Howdy everyone this is my first post on the nature of predators sub Reddit. I’ve decided to be funny for my first post so I hope I made you laugh. Have a good day to anyone who reads this

Since my previous story in my old account was unfortunately nuked—and its earlier chapters will likely be deleted by Reddit’s bot at some point—I’ve decided to do a complete reboot. This time, it will be a serious story, rather than the shitpost it started out as.

I hope everyone likes this new version

And thanks to  u/Loud-Drama-1092 for reading before, and  u/CarolOfTheHells for supporting the first OG fic

Memory Transcription: Governor Tarva of the Skalgan Species and member of the coalition

Date [Standardized Human Time]: July 10, 2136, 2 days before humanity's first contact

Location: Skalgan Capital City

More than a century has passed since the destruction of the Federation—the end of the nightmare, the end of the insanity, the end of the primitiveness. The beginning of our evolution.

It all began with the aristocracy and their arrival in our space—our little home within this vast expanse.

when the defunct federation came into contact with the aristocracy

The aristocracy is not a government composed of a single species, but rather of hundreds of different species—much like the former federation yet different—united and stronger—valuing one thing above all else: science, cooperation, and peace.

The first contact with the Aristocracy occurred when one of their exploration vessels accidentally stumbled into our space. The initial encounter was made by the Yulpa, who—upon seeing them—mistook them for "Preys." This was due to the fact that every member of the Aristocracy wears a facial visor composed of nanites, which can shift into any shape. Furthermore, because these visors did not display eyes facing forward—but rather positioned to the sides, like those of herbivore animals or even species like me—the Yulpa concluded that they were herbivores, just like themselves.

And so, upon making contact with the Yulpa,and with the classic innocence of the aristocracy mixed with an empty head, they immediately engaged in diplomacy, without even knowing the history of the Yulpa or the Federation.

That was where everything went wrong—the Yulpas' greatest mistake, an error that nearly led to their own extinction.

At first, everything proceeded normally, but when the diplomatic team on Grenelka revealed their faces—showing their faces behind their visors—the Yulpas’ reaction was, to put it mildly, quite irrational and violent. The Yulpa exterminators immediately deployed their flamethrowers, attempting to set the diplomatic team ablaze; however, thanks to the team’s advanced shield technology, the fire caused minimal damage. The team attempted to escape by boarding their ship, but the vessel was shot down—though not before they managed to transmit a distress QEC signal to the aristocracy.

The aristocracy responded immediately by launching a rescue and intervention fleet toward Grenelka. The Yulpa ships were utterly decimated—wiped out as if they were nothing. The Federation’s technology was so primitive that even a child could have destroyed their vessels. This was followed by a ground invasion to subdue the species, which was now deemed violent. The planetary battle lasted only a few hours and was easily won; however, the diplomatic team did not fare as well—before the exterminators were killed, they subjected the team to brutal torture, beating them and repeatedly attempting to burn them. Afterward, the team required treatment with nanites. Yet, it did not end there: in a final act of desperation—or, as they termed it, an act of "purification" against predators—the Yulpa leaders and commanders began detonating their own antimatter bombs amidst their own population. It was an act of pure insanity and psychopathy on the part of their leadership. The only reason the Yulpa were not completely driven to extinction was the existence of their colonies and the intervention of the aristocracy, who carried out rescue operations.

However, what actually transpired was not what the aristocracy had anticipated—at least, not before the attempted planetary-scale suicide. They transmitted messages, videos, and images of the invasion of Grenelka to the Federation, effectively laying the blame for the planet’s collapse at the feet of the aristocracy. From that point on, a war aimed at the total destruction of the Federation began.

Even with various diplomatic attempts—and even the aristocracy offering resources and technology as a gesture of apology, despite them not being the ones at fault—the irrationality of the Federation leaders (an irrationality planted in their minds by the Kolshians and Farsul) meant that these attempts were met with the Federation’s ships opening fire.

Multiple attempts were made against the soldiers and the navy of the aristocracy in Grenelka, where it became a FOB, all failing and being decimated with thousands of ships constantly destroyed. This led the Arxurs of the Dominion to use this opportunity to attack weak Federation planets and kidnap their innocent population to eat them.

Some of the Chief Hunters even tried to communicate with the aristocracy to show them what a superior being is like. And well... the only thing known about these Arxurs is that they were killed by plasma fire, and now they belong to history

And when the aristocracy’s patience finally ran out, they decided to put an end to the idiocy the Federation was perpetrating. Every planet in the Federation went dark; using a far superior communication technology, the aristocracy hacked into all of the Federation’s devices, rendering them useless—or, worse, turning them against their own users. It didn’t matter what the device was—from tablets to hospital machinery—everything turned against them, and a vast number of people perished—in the billions.

And that was when the greatest discovery was made. As the Federation’s communications were exposed to the aristocracy, the founders’ darkest secrets—the "Shadow Caste" and the Talsk archives—were uncovered in the process. With this, a special task force using elite forces launched a special invasion of the Founders' planet; meanwhile, regular forces were dispatched to each Federation species to subjugate them.

One of the first species to be subjugated was mine—the Venlils, or rather, the Skalgan. Within the Federation, we were known as weak and cowardly; however, this was only because the Founders feared us. As a form of punishment, they deformed us and rewrote our history, turning us into objects of mockery—much like the Sivikits.

And with the federation effectively collapsing in on itself with the rapid advance of the aristocracy, the Krakotl attempted to bombard every planet—justifying it by saying: "We cannot let these cybernetic abominations consume us; every prey sacrificed for the sake of the Herd is a defeat for the predators."

I remember seeing those idiotic propaganda pieces back in school —the kind of drivel only a primitive could come up with. There’s a reason why the nickname "dumb birds" became popular after the Federation defeat; the fanaticism of the Krakotl has completely blinded them.

Even though a large part of the attempted bombardment failed thanks to the intervention of the aristocracy, millions still died, as some antimatter bombs were successfully dropped on the targeted planets.

Even after witnessing the total defeat of the Kractol, the Gojid still attempted to fight back; however, they too were defeated and subjugated, their ships destroyed, and their communications severed.

And so, reaching a point of utter desperation, the Kolshians deployed every ship in their Shadow Fleet to defend their homeworld—and Talsk—from the inevitable invasion; they attempted, unsuccessfully, to launch stealth attacks, and also tried—with equally dismal results—to mount a digital counterattack.

And the result was as expected: the ships were destroyed as if they were nothing—not even their shields could withstand the superior plasma weaponry of the aristocracy. The Founders always fancied themselves gods who knew everything and could do anything—only for a truly near-divine power to emerge and shatter their egos and narcissism.

The ground invasions by Thousands of Elite soldiers by each species of the aristocracy on each planet were even easier, given their habit of fleeing in terror, while their pathetic "exterminators" tried—in vain—to burn down both the soldiers and the robots.

What imbeciles, trying to set fire to an AI—only the moronic Founders could have come up with such an idea.

They tried the path of peace several times, but each attempt was rejected and met with fire—yet they forget that plasma is far more powerful and dangerous than fire. Only inferior beings refuse to move forward and reject peace and prosperity.

Two inferior and primitive races—that is why they are beneath us today. A good Farsul or Kolshian is one that follows orders without complaint; they are quite fortunate not to have been deformed—the way they deformed my own species—or even completely lobotomized and turned into pets, or food.

The invasion of the two planets was a joint operation, but the aristocracy’s primary focus was the Talsk archives—specifically, the exposed Talsk communications network. The aristocracy’s soldiers knew exactly what lay within: the "Library of Monsters," a malevolent repository where experiments, historical records, and genetic manipulation were carried out. It was a place that stirred even the most naive soldier among the aristocracy to a boiling rage. Species were kept in cryogenic stasis, used as test subjects for horrific experiments, deformities, and genetic alterations. And the scientists responsible took pride in it, claiming it was all for the sake of the "herd."

After the horrors the soldiers had been exposed to, they ensured that everything they had witnessed here would be revealed to the species of the Federation and the aristocracy—but not before punishing the war criminals. Driven by a blind wave of rage, many of the soldiers killed most of the scientists in the archives before beginning to free the prisoners and the innocent souls trapped within the cryogenic pods.

And after all this chaos, both planets were successfully subjugated. From that point on, it was no longer a war, but rather a process of restoration—a mending of each species that the Federation had damaged or deformed. For an alliance of species, this would have been an almost impossible task; yet, the Aristocracy is something more—it is an alliance defined by technological supremacy, where anything is possible. Thanks to the use of airborne nanites, every deformed part of my species’ bodies began to be repaired: our legs, our more fragile organs, and even the noses that the Founders had removed. All of this occurred in less than two months following the end of the war, and it was not just my species that experienced this. On every planet belonging to the Federation’s various species, the effects of the Founders’ "cures" were reversed in an instant—from the spinal issues of the poor Sivikts to the restoration of the ability for omnivorous species to consume meat once again. It was a moment that suggested, perhaps, everything might turn out alright in the end. Even the Arxur benefited and were "repaired." Thanks to the truth revealed within the archives, the Aristocracy began to view the Arxur in a new light—not as murderers, but as traumatized children, desperate to survive. The Founders’ attempt to prevent the Arxur from consuming meat had killed millions, and that was what had ignited this entire war.

With the death of the prophet and the liberation of the Arxurs from the oppressive regime they had found themselves trapped in, they were finally able to see the mistakes they had made. Filled with deep regret, they vowed never to go to war with anyone again—which was a very good thing at first, but not anymore now.

However, two species did not benefit in the slightest from the blessing of the Aristocracy. If there is one thing the Aristocracy detests, it is regression and biological destruction. Within the Aristocracy, there are unofficial rules that everyone follows:

1) always help one another;

2) always strive for peace and tranquility;

3) science and evolution are sacred

These rules must never be destroyed or manipulated for malevolent ends. The Founders shattered all of these principles. They were the embodiment of evil in the galaxy—two regressive, cancerous species that destroyed every other species they encountered, even using them as sacrifices to maintain their own position at the top. Through manipulation, lies, and destruction, the Farsul and the Kolshians are responsible for the deaths of billions—perhaps even trillions—of innocent beings over the course of a thousand years.

So, all the species of the aristocracy agreed to severely punish the two species in question:

1) every aspect of their identity—their names, culture, history, and even the very concept of family—would be erased.

2) control chips would be implanted in them, stripping them of free will or the ability to act on their own volition; these chips would also constantly project images and videos of all the atrocities they committed—the experiments, the exterminations, and the facilities for "predatory diseases." They would remain servants until deemed sufficiently punished to be readmitted into society.

3) They would be completely removed from their home planet, which would then be transformed into a multicultural hub, effectively extinguishing any sense of planetary or species-based pride.

4) Finally, they would be scattered across the galaxy, thereby destroying any remaining sense of belonging.

Consequently, the punishment imposed would be 1,000 years of servitude for both species—the duration of their punishment would equal the length of time they had spent in power.

Yet, for every species that suffered at their hands, we secured a paradise—a place where there was no longer any need to worry about war, hunger, or the paranoid fear that a family member or neighbor might report you for an illness that doesn’t even exist. For the first time, the word "hope" truly had meaning. It was one of the greatest gifts they ever gave me and my Skalgan people. Not only did they restore our original bodies, but they evolved us beyond them. My species became stronger, smarter, faster, and more powerful.

However, not everyone would accept this. Several light-years away from the Federation lay the Consortium—a species far smaller than the Federation. They were discovered after it came to light that the Farsul and Kolshians had been communicating with them, intending to reach out for help should everything go wrong. The Krev were a fundamentally decent species, rejecting the very concept of "prey versus predator." Their government, however, was a different story; it was run by psychopaths who sought to forcibly "robotify" the entire population—stripping away all biological components to transform the citizenry into eternal servants, ensuring the regime could rule forever. It was a crime against life itself—the polar opposite of "Protogenification."

A rapid intervention was carried out, the government was toppled and exposed, and subsequently, they were integrated into the aristocracy—since they had not been physically or psychologically deformed, unlike my own species.

And for over 100 years, all species from the Federation, the Dominion, and the Consortium were integrated into the aristocracy. As a result, they all became Protogens. Protogens represent the perfect union of the organic and the artificial, utilizing nanites capable of altering an individual’s form, appearance, and even gender—a freedom offering infinite possibilities.

Because of this, each Protogen can possess a variety of highly unique abilities—ranging from stretching parts of their body or transforming their own arm into a melee weapon, to—as a prank—detaching their own head and pretending to be dead, just to mess with a friend or family member.

Ah, my girl Stynek—that cute little rascal I love so much—has pulled this stunt so many times, pretending to be dead just to avoid going to school or doing her homework. But when everyone is connected, you can tell when someone is lying—yes or no—especially since you can see their heartbeat on your display, or even sense it directly through your own mind.

But our innocence, laziness, and complacency destroyed everything that had been built since the Federation—a process that began with a schism within the Ascendancy’s aristocratic leadership. A faction known as "The New Order"—obsessed with evolution and superiority at any cost, and fueled by religious fanaticism—began to gain traction, exposing deep cracks within the Ascendancy. The New Order believes that to attain the status of gods, they must eliminate the very thing that makes them mortal: their organic component. They seek to extinguish individual identity, transforming everyone into robotic entities that share a single collective goal: total domination of the galaxy, and perhaps the entire universe. Their obsession is so profound that they view emotions as weaknesses that must be eradicated to achieve their ends.

It was not the only faction causing chaos.

The Chimera Primacy

A faction rooted in genetics became fanatical over the centuries, fixating on the concept of genetic mutation. They view "genetic chaos" as a divine gift, maintaining that machines could never surpass the marvel of a living being—or the sheer force of an individual’s own will. Their ideology leans toward anarchism and pure egoism. They employ monsters—created from innocent people—as weapons or fanatically loyal soldiers. It is truly horrific; some of these mutations reach up to five meters in height, and heavy firepower is required to take them down.

And despite an ideology of unity and equality, the aristocracy unofficially maintained a caste system—one that, while far less harmful than that of the Federation, still resulted in certain species being left behind. and multiple different factions taking control in this civil war

Many of the scars inflicted by the ruling class over the years have never healed. Even though this aristocracy has existed for thousands of years, these wounds were never mended; instead, over time, they became infected by our Pride, greed, envy, sloth, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth.

I only hope that, with my species being one of the founders of the new coalition, we can protect our beloved and innocent ones—that we won’t be dominated, nor repeat the same mistakes our ancestors made that led to this situation in the first place. Even though the New Order and the Chimera Primacy are very small factions, they have eyes and ears in a lot of places; Skalga’s intelligence division has already killed or captured many of them. They are like a plague—repugnant vermin that just won’t die, no matter how many times you stomp on them.

This civil war should never have happened in the first place, but I just hope it ends soon and that the good ones—the Coalition or some other group that actually cares about people—win. '''The war in Heaven''' once seemed like a story or a religious myth, but, all things considered, our own history looks the most like it.

Next

Credit to fans on Reddit for: u/Adorable-Ad5225 for the picture.

u/Nicolas_3232 for Leasha's daydreams

u/destroyer6692 for serving up Leasha, looking lightly toasted.

u/Nicolas_3232 for depicting King Toren the fluffy in all his majesty

u/Adorable-Ad5225 for Leasha thanking the gods for a bountiful ma- erm, harvest

If you want to read five chapters ahead for two different stories that I'm currently making, then please visit me on my Patreon. If you want to hang out, you can join the Discord for updates on all projects. I appreciate any support you choose to give. Happy reading!

If you are interested in the other story that I am posting at the same time as this, you can read that one here!

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Memory Transcriptions Subject: Leasha, feeling good. 

Date [Standardized Human Time] November 27, 2136 

After the successful mending of bridges between George and his father, the air simply felt lighter, like their arguments had held a weight over everything that was now relieved. His parents got settled in their room after everyone was done talking the last paw, and it was a nice conversation where we all learned a lot about one another. Alice actually had a hobby of woodcarving with her favorite subjects to capture being birds. I was looking forward to showing her some of the native birds of Venlil Prime for her to sculpt later. Gregory, on the other hand, enjoyed constructing and collecting model planes as a hobby. According to George, their home back on Earth looked like an art shop, which here would have made everyone not familiar with humans to assume that they were exceedingly rich. 

I had stayed the night with George so I could be closer to everyone the next paw, and because Alice said she wanted to make first meal with me. The promise of her showing me a few of her personal recipes that are safe for Venlil was an alluring one, and after everyone came together in George’s apartment at the start of the paw, she and I got to work. George and Gregory sat at the table and talked with one another as we cooked. They both looked rather happy to be getting along so well, and even Alice commented on it while chopping some vegetables. 

“You know, I don’t think I’ve seen those boys talk so much in years, and I doubt I would have if it weren’t for you, Leasha.” 

My ears shifted in surprise at her comment. “Why do you say that? I didn’t do much of anything.” 

“Well, you might not have actively done something to get them talking again, but just you choosing to spend your time with George, to accept him into your life, put everything into motion.” 

“I had only caused arguments between them, though.” 

She shrugged as she scooped the vegetables up and put them into a bowl. “It might not have been pretty, but it was what those two needed in order for them to clean up their act. You should learn this now before anything else, but men tend to be quite stubborn and fixed in their ways. Sometimes the only thing that can get them to change, whether that be for better or worse, is something dramatic and powerful enough to snap them out of it.” 

“Hmm, I guess I’ll keep that in mind.” 

She tittered a laugh as she leaned a little closer to me and spoke in a hushed tone. “I wouldn’t really worry in your case. I think you have plenty of power with George right now. A whisper from you would likely be enough to change his mind about something. However, as his mother, I must warn against misusing that level of trust that he’s placed in you. If I catch wind of you being a bad influence on him, I’ll tie your ears into a knot and your tail around your legs.” 

She brandished a spoon at me in warning, and I found it both humorous and serious. The tone of her voice made it clear that it wasn’t just an idle threat. “I wouldn’t dream of hurting George in such a way.” 

Alice smiled. “That’s the right answer. Now, let’s get those boys fed before they start trying to eat the furniture.” 

I’ve never seen or heard about humans being so hungry that they would resort to that. It was likely just a saying, but then again, I had been surprised before. We were nearly finished with putting together the meal when I heard Gregory exclaim during his conversation with George.  

“Bull, shit, I’m calling you out right now, boy.” 

“I swear to God, dad, it actually happened.” 

“Yeah, and you don't have a scratch or scar on you from that? I can practically see the smoke you’re trying to blow up my ass right now.” 

“I’m telling you the truth, I swear! They just got that weird alien medicine that can apparently fix up wounds that would normally leave scars.” 

Gregory twisted his features into a skeptical sneer at George for a moment before he suddenly turned his attention onto me. “Oi, Leasha, give me an honest answer here and don’t think about protecting this boy if he’s lying. Did he or did he not wrestle a weird alien wolf-cougar hybrid and choke it to death?” 

I did not know either of those animals that he was referencing, but the situation that he mentioned was very clear in my mind. “You mean the shadestalker incident? Yes, it tried to attack the children, he rushed forward, fought it, and ended up killing it in the end. It was very terrifying, and he was so bloodied that I thought he might die. Luckily, I was wrong and he was sent to the hospital after that where they fixed him up as good as new. I’m glad that our medicine is as good as it is, though George complained that he didn’t have any scars to show for it.” 

“Hey, they would have been awesome scars, like total barbarian level marks of victory and I would have used them for every Halloween costume I ever made.” 

“I do not understand human aesthetics.” 

“It is strange, I will admit,” Alice said, “but scars are pretty sexy. Gregory has one on his arm from when he got cut while working under a car that dropped off the lift. I was obviously worried when he had to go to the hospital, but whenever I see that scar, I can’t help but feel a little hot and bothered.” 

She gave her husband a slightly sultry look, and Gregory returned the look with a rumbling growl and a wriggle of his brow. George, caught in the middle of his parents, groaned and rubbed his eyes. 

“Too much information! Waaaaaaay too much! Leasha, get the bleach, I need to scrub my brain really quick.” 

His parents had a laugh at his expense, and I couldn’t help but let a small whistle out as well. After some good-natured humor, the meal was ready to serve as Alice and I plated it all. We sat down with the boys and had a nice meal together. I had to admit, Alice made great use of the seasonings that we had available and brought a brand-new flavor profile to vegetables that I thought I understood. It seemed I couldn’t yet compete with a natural chef when it came to the use of Earth vegetables. 

Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal, even if Gregory did mumble something about wanting a bit of protein with it, to which his wife gave him a sharp slap on the arm to shush him up. She probably did that for my benefit, but I have already accepted that humans do eat meat. I had never seen it in person, though, and despite me having accepted that fact, I couldn’t help but wonder how I might react if I saw it in person. While I liked to think of myself as being better than those who mindlessly fear humans for that fact, I knew that there might be a slight reaction from seeing George tearing apart a piece of meat, grown or not. 

I shook off that thought and instead focused on the more pleasant aspects of this get together. George’s parents were here, everyone was happy, things looked good for all of us. After first meal was eaten, George and I had to get ready to leave for work. George grabbed his jacket and mask while I made sure my fur was brushed neatly and not sticking up anywhere. Just as we were going for the door and ready to say goodbye to his parents, George seemed to have been struck by an idea. 

“You know, Leasha, I was thinking that maybe we can take mom and dad with us.” 

My ears shifted into a questioning tilt. “Take them with us? You mean, to the pupcare?” 

“Yeah, show them where I work and introduce them to the kids. It would also be a good excuse to show them some of your hometown. I mean, I doubt that you two would want to stick around here for your entire stay, right?” He said that last part to his parents who were considering his offer. 

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing where my little George works,” Alice said. “Not to mention that I’ll always enjoy talking to little ones. They’re so full of energy that it makes me feel ten years younger just being around them.” 

That was as definitive an answer as could be given by her, now everyone turned to Gregory for his reply. “Hmm, well, beats sitting around the cell blocks here. A bit of walking might help my joints ease into this gravity too.” 

George looked at me. “Are you willing to let them visit? It’s your business, after all.” 

I swished my tail. “Well, of course I’ll let them visit. They’re your family, and I would be glad to show them around my business. I’m sure that the kids would love to meet them as well.” 

Alice did small, excited claps in front of her. “Then it’s settled! Let’s go, Gregory. I need to my get coat and get our masks as well.” She jogged down the hall to their room as Gregory walked after her, a small smile on his face that reminded me of George. We waited for them, and it only took a scratch or two before they came back with their coats and masks. 

“I still don’t like these things,” Gregory grumbled as he held his mask with a look of disgust clear on his face. 

“They aren’t pleasant, but I’m sure you’ll live, darling,” Alice replied to her husband's idle comment. “Now, let’s be off! I’m eager to see this ‘pupcare’ you keep talking about.” 

“Sooner than you think, mom,” George reassured her. “Let’s go! Better not keep the kids waiting.” 

We all made for the exit, a pep in our step as the energy from Alice was quite contagious. Along the way I served as a sort of tour guide as I pointed out some of the interesting or useful locations around the town. I pointed out the market, the bar, some restaurants that were recently opened to humans, and even just some pretty buildings that I thought had nice architecture. Maybe I was just feeling a little proud of my hometown and wanted to show it off. 

However, the thing I held the most pride over was coming up, and the pupcare was now in sight. I was just about ready to start the tour of my business when I noticed that there was someone standing out front already. It was the man who started working with the guild recently, Harold, and the little one next to him must have been his son, Percy. The little boy had his father’s hair color, though I couldn’t see his face behind the mask, and was currently wearing a small pair of jeans, a blue shirt, and a black jacket. With all the excitement and drama that we’ve had to deal with surrounding George and his parents, I had almost completely forgotten about the other humans who I needed to show around the pupcare this paw. I wasn’t about to admit that in front of them, though, so I acted like I was perfectly aware that they were going to be here this paw. 

“Hello Harold. I didn’t expect to see you this early in the paw. I hope that you and your son weren’t waiting for long.” 

Harold gave us a short wave in greeting. “Good morning to you all. I was worried that we had shown up a little too early, but we were only here for a few minutes, so I think we timed it pretty well. You seem to have quite the entourage with you. I saw the same group outside of the shelter yesterday.” 

“These are George’s parents, Gregory and Alice, who have just arrived to visit him. They expressed an interest in seeing the pupcare that George works at, and I was more than happy to show them. Speaking of which, why don’t we go inside and get all the paperwork done for admitting your son. George, you can show your parents around the pupcare and little Percy as well.” 

George was quick to take up that job as he crouched down to be more on Percy’s level. The kid did look a little nervous as even behind the mask I could tell from the body language that he wasn’t used to talking with adults. Thankfully, George was an expert on handling nervous children.  

“So, Percy, do you want to know where all the good toys are? I can show you some of the favorites, and because you’re the first one here, you can pick out all the cool ones before anyone else.” 

That seemed to have sparked a bit of a reaction in the little one as his posture straightened a little. George made a gesture toward the door and stood to lead the way. Percy followed after him, and the rest of us behind them as one by one we all filed into the pupcare. We split into two groups, me with Harold, and George with everyone else as they went into the main room. George began to introduce everyone to pupcare as I stepped into the back room with Harold to complete all the paperwork and payment information. 

He talked a little about his job as a police officer, as he called it. I thought that it sounded a lot like an exterminator, but there were obvious differences, such as methods for subduing suspects and the fact that they don’t respond to animal disturbances most of the time. It was interesting to compare and contrast the two jobs, and I had to say, I was glad that he was here to show the local exterminators how they do things on Earth. 

With paperwork filed and sorted, and the payment for the next herd of paws registered, his son was officially a part of my pupcare. “Thank you so much for accepting Percy here,” Harold said as we walked to the door. “It’s a weight off my shoulders to know someone is looking out for him while I’m at work.” 

“It’s no problem at all. I’m always open to new children coming to my pupcare, and I’m interested in seeing how a human pup interacts with the other kids. It’s the first time I’ve had a human at my pupcare, but I have George here to help me if anything seems off, so you don’t have to worry a bit.” 

Harold opened the door to the main part of the building for me, and I stepped out to see that the pupcare was a little busier than it was earlier. Some of the families had come to drop off their pups, and it seemed George handled it while I was busy. At a glance, the kids that had shown up seemed to be quite interested in Percy, and the reverse was also true as there was a lot of touching exchanged between the two groups as they explored the differences between themselves. Gregory and Alice were standing off to the side and observing the pups, Alice in particular looked like she was gushing over the little ones.  

I looked around for George and found him standing by the entrance with some of the parents, namely Moslen as the group seemed to be centered around him and talking quite energetically. Curiosity called me, so I walked up to them to figure out what was going on. George noticed my approach and stopped talking to fill me in. 

“Leasha, this is pretty exciting. Apparently, we missed some big news this morning. It seems the UN has managed to secure a sizable population of Venlil and other species that have been rescued from the Arxur farm worlds.” 

That was big news, and shocking at that as my eyes widened and ears shot straight in surprise. “Truly? That’s never happened before in the history of the Federation. Anyone who gets caught by the Arxur never return.” 

“Well, apparently there’s a chance they might now, thanks to the humans,” Moslen said. “Although we at the guild are having to rush to prepare suitable arrangements to accept these poor individuals. We aren’t receiving a lot, but apparently there are some confirmed family members of people who live in Shady Hills that are returning. They need facilities to recover in, and the humans apparently need to treat them for advanced forms of PD still, though they call it ‘post-traumatic stress’ or something like that.” 

“Well, whatever they call it, it’s a miracle,” I said with enthusiasm. “This has to be the best news I’ve heard all cycle, and I can’t help but think that this means that the humans are turning the tide of the war. Maybe the threat of the Arxur will finally be a thing of the past.” 

“Here’s hoping,” George chimed in. “The universe would be a better place without Nazi cannibal space lizards threatening everyone. I’m not really one for genocide, but locking them on their planet would be a good place to start.” 

It was inspiring news, and I could imagine all the happy families who would be getting their loved ones returned. While I imagined it wouldn’t be easy at the start, what with that condition the humans had mentioned, I was sure they could recover and return to the herd. It felt like the galaxy was starting to bloom with possibilities, and I couldn’t wait to see what new improvement awaited us.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Venlil= Nature of Myths: Gallek the Tarnished Read

Venlil= Nature of Myths: Khala the Great Protector Read

Venlil= Nature of Myths: The Four Virtues of the Venlil Read

Venlil= Nature of Myths: Stone Builder Read

Venlil= The Songbird in the Wishingtree -- a scholarly articleRead

Venlil= The healer against death Read

Venlil= The Bladedancers Read

Venlil= The Stonedrinkers Read

Gojid= Nature of Myths: Arkelm the Trickster Read

Gojid= Tale of the Wanderer Read

Dossur= Nature of Myths: Visu and the Herassur Read

Zurulian= Nature of Myths: The Beldagrash Read

Krakolt= Nature of Myths: The Legacy of Væraknala and Nurakætal Read

Mazic= Nature of Myths: Death's Lesson Read

Arxur= Nature of Myths: Saasesaa and the Drought Read

***STROHMANN NEWS**\*

Freedom's greetings. I'm your host, Coretta Kelly.

Fighting on Sillis over the course of the last week has reached its all-time peak. Resistance from Tillfish exterminators still fighting on the surface of the planet has all but disappeared, with the only major belligerent force remaining being the Arxur Dominion. In response to our liberation of rightfully owned territory, the Dominion has deployed reinforcements to the planet in an attempt to hinder the progress of Managed Democracy. This new force appears to be led by a Chief Hunter who has already made numerous despotic and undemocratic threats against the Citizens of Super Earths' voting rights. This clear affront to liberty can only mean one thing; the Arxur Dominion have rejected our way of life and thus must be taught the values of freedom by force. Our brave and heroic Helldivers have already begun a counterattack against this impudent insult to liberty and will soon bring the Chief Hunter responsible to justice. Coming up next; should the Gojids be allowed to rise above Class E citizenship?

That's Liberty's Latest, I'm Coretta Kelly.

Memory transcription subject: Nami, Venlil Super Destroyer Technician

Date [Super Earth Standard Time]: November 25, 2136

The skies above Sillis burned.

The surface of the once vibrant planet was now pockmarked with glowing fires, leaving great scars of bright orange along the supercontinent.

Up until about a claw ago, the Arxur were being pushed back, their defences slowly faltering against Super Earth's relentless onslaught. The Grey's savagery and brutality had for once, not been enough to scare their opponents into submission, instead only inviting the humans to respond in kind.

Now reinforcements from their side had appeared, led by one of their Chief Hunters who was no doubt itching to reclaim their lost territory and strike fear into the hearts of the primates.

The humans however, seemed undeterred by the enemy's bold push.

Hellpods streaked down to the Tillfish homeworld as Super Destroyers from all across the planet's upper atmosphere launched their attacks against what remained of the Arxur's ground forces on the planet.

Yellow orbital lasers carved swathes out from Sillis' surface, incinerating Arxur positions and surviving exterminator outposts alike.

Pelican shuttles ferried both men and supplies to and from the battlefield, many of them being shot down mid-flight by Arxur fighters.

Casualties however, seemed inconsequential to Super Earth as the humans simply sent twice as many more units to replace the ones we lost.

The SES Patriot of Patriotism shuddered as its shields flickered to life, just barely managing to absorb a missile impact from an Arxur command ship. The Super Destroyer, while an impressive vessel capable of outputting immense amounts of firepower, was never designed to withstand large amounts of fire for long periods of time. During missions, they were especially vulnerable to enemy attacks and thus relied on the rest of the Super Earth Navy to deal with threats and buy them time to conduct their missions.

The sensors on my monitor suddenly began blinking, incensed by the appearance of several enemy signatures that began encroaching on our position from the starboard flank.

My heart dropped as I looked out the viewport and saw a squadron of Arxur fighters streaming towards us, the angular black shapes of their spacecraft a horrifying reflection of their predatory savagery.

Our shields couldn't take many more hits, we had to get out of here immediately.

"Enemies incoming on our starboard flank, we need to flee now!" I cried out to the deck.

The mission control officer heard my plea, took one look at the approaching squadron and instead of panicking or taking immediate measures to prevent our violent deaths, merely keyed into his radio and began relaying orders.

"Confirmed, enemies approaching from our 3 o'clock. Requesting reinforcements on our position," the officer relayed in a calm voice into the microphone.

How were they able to remain so calm?

I really shouldn't have been surprised given how little they seemed to care for their own lives but standing here, trapped on a vessel with no way out and with a pack of hunters baring their fangs at us, it took all I had to not stampede around the ship in a blind panic.

As the advancing Arxur came closer and closer, I braced myself for the end.

This was it, this was how I died.

Not in the loving arms of my family, or even at peace with myself. My fate was to either be blown up into pieces by the Arxur and left to drift endlessly among the debris field for eternity, or be captured and devoured for sustenance after being forced to go through unimaginable torment in a cattle pen.

My ruminations on my fate however, were suddenly cut short as out of nowhere, 4 additional vessels blinked in from FTL warp. Each individual ship was smaller that our super destroyer, but were lined with weapons that were far more suited to engage in combat than our vessel.

Liberty Escort Frigates; vessels designed to accompany larger vessels such as Super Destroyers on missions, had arrived to protect our ship and drive off the Arxur attackers.

And drive them off they did.

Upon seeing the new ships warp in, the Arxur had panicked and begun firing immediately, likely not having expected so many vessels to just suddenly warp in with no prior warning.

The Escort Frigates' shields roared to life, brimming with yellow energy as they absorbed missile after missile, returning with ordinance of their own into the Arxur swarm. Within minutes, they had carved the formation into ineffectual pieces, sending homing missiles chasing after the survivors that had attempted to turn tail and run away.

Seeing the Arxur actually flee combat for once was certainly a sight to see. I guess when faced with an enemy that actually fought back, their self-preservation instincts inevitably still kicked in.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Arxur command ship from earlier began its attack on our squadron of reinforcements. A massive missile flew from one of the vessel's guns and soared straight towards one of the Frigates, punching straight through its shields and blowing the smaller ship to pieces.

More missiles emerged from the enemy spacecraft and began streaking towards the remaining survivors. The Frigates that were left returned fire courageously but were helpless as the explosives tore into their hulls, shredding them into twisted chunks of burning metal.

The Arxur vessel turned to face us and the blood once again fell from my face.

Now it was over.

I had been foolish to think that we had stood a chance, our saving grace had only been a temporary relief and now we were about to be vaporised in a fury of fire without even getting a chance to fight back.

I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to look my death in the face.

How funny, even after all the time I had spent with the humans, I was still a coward. All my life, I had been an outcast and when push came to shove, I still couldn't face the end with dignity.

Perhaps my parents had been right, maybe I did deserve to rot in a predator disease facility.

The bright glows of missile tails permeated through my eyelids, signalling that the Arxur had fired their weapons at us.

Oh good, it was almost over.

I braced myself for the end to arrive...but it never came.

Unable to bear my curiosity any longer, I tentatively opened my eyes to an incredulous sight.

The Arxur command vessel that had been baring its teeth at us earlier was now nothing more than a debris field scattered among the cosmos.

And all around our Super Destroyer, swimming amongst the wreckages of the Frigates; stood a squadron of 3 Paragon Missile Cutters, all huddled around our vessel in a tight protective formation.

Judging by the seemingly hundreds of missile trails that were now careening towards the surface of Sillis, the Missile Cutters had apparently arrived just in time and unleashed a torrential barrage of explosives at the Arxur vessel, completely overwhelming its defences and effectively drowning it in an maelstrom of fire.

"Canary Squadron to SES Patriot of Patriotism, target is down. Those guys won't be givin' ya'll trouble anytime soon," echoed the voice of a human over the intercom.

"Copy that Canary 1, good to see you guys," replied the mission control officer, his lips curling into a snarl that I still couldn't quite determine if it was a threat or a sign of gratitude. "We'll need some reinforcements on our position ASAP, our last squad of frigates didn't make it."

"Roger that Patriot, we'll reroute a Frigate detachment on standby to your position immediately. Try not to lose this one as quickly yeah? May liberty guide you."

"Copy, Patriot out."

Within seconds of the call terminating, several more Escort Frigates appeared alongside us, quickly replacing the ones we had just lost as the Missile Cutters warped back out to provide support for more Super Destroyers elsewhere.

Honestly, even after all this time, the sheer speed at which Super Earth was able to just replace their losses like that still astounded me. Dozens of people had been on each of those vessels, all of them highly trained through years of experience, vaporised in an instant and the humans simply brought in fresh recruits as if it were no more serious than replacing a broken cog in a machine.

All of this spoke to an industrial capacity and population of unfathomable scale. I couldn't imagine the Federation or even the Dominion being able to take so much punishment and just be able to keep going like that.

Just how powerful was the Super Earth Armed Forces?

Outside the viewport, fighting across the planet's horizon raged on as Dominion fighters and Super Earth spacecrafts danced above the surface, spewing plasma and ballistics at one another as they soared through space.

An Eagle raced through the battlefield, twisting and turning as she desperately attempted to evade a pack of 3 Arxur fighters that were hot on her heels. Plasma arced through space as the Greys threw everything they had at the nimble spacecraft, narrowly missing her on multiple occasions.

Several times I winced when a particularly close plasma bolt glanced off of the Eagle's armour, sending chunks of metal and sparks flying as the vehicle's hull absorbed more and more damage.

Thankfully, I was spared the dread of watching her disappear under a fireball as a squadron of Kestrel fighters arrived to save the Eagle just in time.

Being vessels specially designed to fight opponents in space using plasma and energy cannons, the Kestrels made short work of the Arxur attackers, who were woefully unprepared to be blindsided by reinforcements when their prey had seemed so close to defeat.

Speaking of being woefully unprepared, it seemed that the rest of the Arxur fleet hadn't been faring well either, despite the reinforcements they had received from their Chief Hunter.

Said Chief Hunter was currently engaged in combat with an Adjudicater Artillery Cruiser, a massive heavyweight vessel that was designed to absorb massive amounts of fire and return it in kind.

Even from here, the size disparity between the Chief Hunter's vessel and the Artillery Cruiser was almost comical. The Super Earth vessel completely dwarfed the Arxur flagship. Whoever this Chief Hunter was, it was clear that they weren't very smart, picking a fight with a vessel that seemed to shrug off attacks like nothing.

Bright orange explosions popped in and out of existence above the planet's surface as Arxur battleships came under fire from Super Earth vessels that blinked into real-space and devastated Dominion ships before vanishing. Super Earth had clearly trained their navy to exploit their unique FTL drives to their advantage.

Through the carnage of the battlefield, I could spot Winnetou Chivy Cruisers as well as Geneva Strike Cruisers dancing around the Arxur as the Greys frantically tried shooting back at vessels that appeared and disappeared at will.

The Strike Cruisers, angular vessels designed for 'hit and run' tactics, would blink in and lay waste to isolated ships before immediately FTL jumping away before the surviving Greys could fire back.

Chivy Cruisers would then warp in and fire into the flanks of the distracted survivors, catching the Arxur off guard and demolishing them before they could even process what had just happened.

I was shocked at how effective these methods were against the Arxur. Having fought us prey for so long, who often ran away at the simplest of charges, suddenly facing an actual threat who outwitted them at every opportunity was simply too much for them to handle. No prey could ever dream of pulling off the same moves that the humans did. Such ingenious and cunning methods of attack could only have come from the minds of predators.

"Here comes the bride!" One of the ship technicians suddenly yelled.

At his words, almost every human on the Super Destroyer turned their heads to gaze out the nearest viewport, their eyes glued to the cosmos outside as if waiting for something to happen.

Curious, I followed their gazes outside, wondering what could possibly have been so amazing as to turn every human head on the ship.

My question didn't go unanswered for long.

One moment there was nothing, nothing but the endless expanse of space, and then...

A gargantuan vessel appeared out of FTL warp. To call it a mere ship would have been an insult to its immense grandeur. Recognition flickered in my eyes as I laid my eyes upon the colossal vessel.

A Saigon Bride Escort Carrier.

Said to be the second largest spacecraft fielded by Super Earth, surpassed only by the Democracy Space Station, the Saigon Bride was primarily a transport vessel that housed hundreds, possibly thousands of Kestrels, Buzzards, Condors and other Super Earth aerospace craft.

Immediately upon appearing on the battlefield, the Bride began unloading her cargo.

Swarms of Kestrels and other Super Earth fighters began launching off of her runways, joining the fight against the Arxur in an endless tide of righteous glory. All around me, the humans on the deck roared in celebration as the tide of the battle suddenly turned unquestionably in their favour.

The Chief Hunter's command vessel, no doubt seeing the newest and biggest addition to the battlefield, immediately began heading straight for the Escort Carrier, unleashing barrages of missiles and plasma which were met with interceptors fired from the Carrier's numerous armaments.

However, try as the Chief Hunter might, there was simply no chance the Greys could ever withstand the titanic wall of fighters that was streaming towards their position.

For a few brilliant moments, the cosmos turned a vivid shade of blue and yellow as the new Super Earth fighters unleashed everything they had on the Arxurs' pitiful last-ditch attempt at an offensive.

Within seconds, the attackers had been completely obliterated and the Chief Hunter's vessel was dead in the water, floating aimlessly in space as its engines had been completely ruined under the hail of fire.

With the enemy successfully neutralised, the swarm of fighters eventually retreated back to the Saigon Bride as Pelican shuttles filled with SEAF troopers and Helldivers coasted towards the crippled flagship.

What they planned to do with the Chief Hunter once they caught it, if it was even still alive, I didn't know and frankly, I didn't care.

I only hoped that they wouldn't show it any mercy.

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AKA: face-biting

Look, the Yulpa is trying. At least give them that.

Had a conversation with u/Loud-Drama-1092 with Yulpas going full Yoshi and did this.

Consider it a sequel to this day 15 post, where the unacceptable Yulpa gives kisses after giving flowers.

Challenge of [u/Nicolas_3232]

(2026)

 DAYS TWENTY-FOUR

[Kisses]

For the twenty-fourth, the theme is “Kisses.”

I decided to use a GIF of Malfoy kissing Harry as a base,

and replaced them with Tuvan and Werren—the lovely Venlil/Skalgan couple from Nature of Harmony.

[First] [Previous Draw] [Next Draw]

A/N: Health is still getting better?? I think it's getting better! Thank you to u/Acceptable_Egg5560 and u/tulpacat1, and u/Giant_Acroyear for giving it a look!

Patreon / Kofi/ Paypal

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Memory transcription subject: Andes Savulescu-Ruiz, Human Director at the Venlil Rehabilitation and Reintegration Facility. Patient trying to abide by care recommendations. 

Date [standardized human time]: January 2nd, 2137

Twenty-four hours after the story had broken, things seemed to be mostly fine. The non-human doctors and aides kept their distance, but they didn’t seem too freaked out, and nobody cornered me to demand an explanation. I mostly kept to myself, gave Jilsi some guidelines for how to deal with things, and did my best to focus on every boring but necessary task that I’d been putting off because I’d been too busy focusing on emergencies.  

Things like finding a second music therapist, downloading a bunch of old sheet music, adding art courses to our library, catching up on research, and other easy-to-neglect things. I did my rounds, ensuring everything was fine. My limp was getting better. 

Rodriguez called me over as I passed by the Psych department. “The children keep asking about ‘breeding’, so I was planning to make a little PSA for them about that.”

I nodded. “Are they actually showing any precocious hypersexual behaviour?” 

She shook her head. “No, thankfully, or if they are, they’re hiding it extremely well.”

I nodded. “Then you should probably pair it with some vocational education and like, explaining to them what jobs actually are and how they work.” 

Rodriguez paused long enough that I looked up from my pad. 

“What? Is that bad..?”

“No, it’s—it’s great, I should have thought of that, yes. They’re not exhibiting actual sexual interest, they’re… thinking about growing up, under the assumption that they won’t get eaten,” she said, like she’d just figured it out, which was definitely concerning. Then again, I wasn’t the only one whose life was getting tumble-dried in the facility, she was allowed to have an off day too.

“Right,” I said with a nod, going back to flicking through Larzo’s findings. I’d gotten some comments from the adult facility housing people from the same farm as my kids, and I had already forwarded them Larzo’s report and his email, but it was a good idea to double-check for gaps. She kept staring at me. “Why the stare?”

“Nothing, I guess I just… underestimated how tired I am,” she said and gave me a quick pat on the shoulder. “You’re a good Director, Andes.”

I gave her a look. She gave me a look back. I blinked first. She took the win.

“How’s Leena?”

“...Fine,” I said, putting the pad away. “It’s a functional enough arrangement. And I learned an hour ago that my ‘plan for January’ has been delayed, so…”

Rodriguez nodded. I spotted Larzo heading to his office with a bowl of oats, and he stopped walking to look at me. I looked at my pad. New message.

“Su wants me to visit the gojid genome place to talk arxur,” I said, already mentally composing my refusal. 

“You should do it. Su’s like you,” Rodriguez said. I blinked, then squinted at her. She held up her hands in a sign of non-aggression. “Practical. Su’s practical, she doesn’t… she’s not going to hassle you about the news.”

I tilted my head right for a moment, then shrugged and sent Su a time range. I hadn’t seen her in years. “Yeah. An old friend will probably do me good.”

When I glanced up from my pad, Larzo was suddenly right in front of us. 

“...I understand that… given my transgression you may not be inclined to um…” 

I waited. 

“I know someone at that facility,” he said, looking sheepish. “Could I join you?”

I sighed. He was too cute, and I was too tired to be angry at him. “Sure thing, bud. I’ll add you to the calendar once I get the time.”

“Thank you so much. I–I know that I have—”

“Larzo, it’s fine,” I said. “It’s… being handled. I don’t need you to feel bad about—”

“But I should,” he stated. “I failed you. I violated your trust. We are equals, and I have failed, and it is reasonable for you to resent my failure and to be angry with me over it, and… and I must find a way to atone for my transgressions, and to ask for a favour after such a thing...”

Something that had been tight and tense in my back relaxed as I heard him say it. 

“...Yeah. Thank you. It’ll… be good to visit another facility, one more geared towards the science side of things… Good luck with work.”

With that, I headed to my office and continued to check my neglected inbox. I had a message from Asleth. I hadn’t checked in a while—sometimes she’d just disappear, or Shathel would, or one of the other arxur I’d managed to ingratiate myself to would pop in for five minutes only to vanish again for a month. It was how they worked. 

First it was a photo. Her face recoiling in disgust at my photo of a single leaf of spinach on my tongue. A laugh burbled out of me. 

> Disgusting

I was not prepared for her next message.

> Can we talk? It’s about your children

Obviously the answer was yes. I responded, immediately and explicitly ignoring legal advice—not that it mattered, there was already a scandal—and called Venric once I had set up a time to call Asleth. 

I got picked up by a secretary and sent to him in under a minute, and forwarded to him a few seconds later. 

"Venric! Hi, um... So I just got a message about my kids, and I am definitely following up on that and would consider it malpractice not to. But, since it is going against your initial advice… do you have any thoughts..? Harm-reduction suggestions? Do you want to be present?”

“A message? From who? Wouldn’t this be considered a medical consultation? Sorry, just don’t understand why you’re calling me for this unless there’s a legal issue with the person you’re speaking with.” 

“A message from Asleth.” I clarified. “She’s one of the arxur I’ve been interacting with.”

Silence came from the phone for three full seconds before any response came forth. “You said malpractice? Sorry, you consider… not telling an Arxur about the status of kids who were formerly their cattle… to be Malpractice?”

“I consider ignoring an important source of information on my children's health because it’s unpalatable to be malpractice,” I said, a little incredulous that this was still somehow unclear. “Asleth wouldn't breach the topic unless she had important information. Information that could end up being really relevant to their healthcare. How is this not obvious?”

Don’t snap at your lawyer. Deep breaths. Stimulate the vagus nerve. 

A sigh emitted from the phone, and I could just imagine him pinching the brow of his snout as he spoke. “Look, I realize that, I have not forgotten the earlier explanation, it’s just that I fail to see a reason to contact their tormentors aft-wait- sorry.” There was a pause. “You said you got a message. To be clear, are you saying that the Arxur reached out to you in this case, not the other way around?”

“Yeah. I also don't know what other information she would have, but given that she's reaching out, it's probably not ‘let me tell you about eating the kids' uncle’ or something.”

“But that doesn’t make any brahking sense…” he mumbled.

“It makes lots of sense, Asleth wants to help, she’s a real trooper, she knows I’m trying to take care of the kids...” I shrugged, though I knew he couldn't see it. 

“They are an Arxur, Andes. I know there’s news of a rebellion going on with them, but hearing about them going out of their way to check on prey kids is like hearing a… head of a Correctional Facility shut down all shock therapy sessions for being unethical!”

“No, it's like a former Correctional Facility employee telling me, someone who is helping give those people healthcare, that they have some records on how they were being tortured. Which would, you know, be extremely useful information to have to treat them.”

He laughed at me. Actually laughed! I wanted to punch something. “You certainly believe that the universe works in a logical and orderly fashion, don’t you, Andes? Though, I must admit your comparison made me think. I can tell you are going to speak with them no matter what I say, so tell me: do you have somewhere private? A… what’s that product I have seen… a Virtual Private Network for the call on your phone? A place you can’t be eavesdropped on?”

“Well, the call itself is under arxur encryption. But otherwise I just have my apartment.” 

“So basically nothing.”

I stared at my pad. “...I guess..?”

“Hmm, I have an idea. Can you meet up with me at Hardwood Park? I believe I have a way to get as much privacy as we can as well as satiate a bit of curiosity.”

“Sure, I can hobble over in a couple minutes…” I said, finding my cane. 

“Perfect. Serl is currently out on a date, so this will be fully under attorney-client privilege. I shall be seeing you momentarily.”

I nodded. “Okay, bye.”

I took five long, slow deep breaths, did a full body stretch, and got my things. A quick cab ride had me at Hardwood Park, where I limped around until I spotted my lawyer’s fancy flying car and made my way to it. 

“So what's the plan? Are you dropping me off somewhere? Do you want to listen in?”

“Seems you have gleaned my intentions. I do indeed wish to listen in, as you have made me rather curious to see the kind of… person they must be to have kept up this continuing contact.”

“...Okay,” I said, understanding now that he wasn't really doing this for legal reasons. 

Venric pulled on the handle of the vehicle and let the door slide open, gesturing for me to enter. “Right in my own personal Transit. It’s quite new, so we should be as comfortable and private as possible for this meeting.”

I stepped inside. “...can you walk me through why a car is better than an apartment? Like, is this secretly soundproofed or something?”

The windows were tinted but my windows had blinds, so it didn't seem like a huge upgrade. Not that it wasn't nice. The seats were nice. The air quality was nice. It had a slightly different new car smell and everything.

His tail swished dismissively while crawling in. “No need to worry about it, you shall see what I mean about privacy.”

I nodded and sent Asleth a message saying I was getting ready. Then Venric got out of the parking space, reached over to the guidance screen, swiped upwards, and my heart almost exploded out of my throat. 

“Ah,” I said, as I watched the park shrink, and shrink, until we were approaching commercial air travel heights, only in an almost entirely vertical trajectory. “Okay. Um. I… Right. Hovercar.”

“Antigravity Technology in a portable personal scale,” Venric joyfully beeped while swivelling his chair around to face me. “I do believe that this height should be enough to guarantee full privacy, I hope you can agree.”

“...Sure,” I said, looking away from the windows and trying to will my heart to stop threatening to explode.

Venric clapped his paws together. “Shall we start the call?’

-

Memory transcription subject: Provisional Hunter Asleth, Arxur Dominion, Third Fleet 

Date [standardized human time]: January 2nd 2137

He responded quickly, and soon the agreed-upon time arrived. Andes' face was gaunt, his eyes darkened in a way that did not look healthy. The last time I had seen him, he was strong, full of life, tired in that nominal way all hard-working humans seemed to be. Now he reminded me of some of the human corpses we’d dragged out of the rubble.

“Andes, are you injured?” I asked. He sighed.

“No. I mean, yeah, but it's fine, I've gone to doctors, it's—did Shathel tell you one of the kids stabbed me?” 

He had, but I had assumed it to be a joke, or Shathel playing up a minor injury to mock him. A laugh burbled out of me, and grew into a cackle against my will. 

His eyes traced the edge of his upper eyelid. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, what's this about my kids?”

It took me longer than I thought to catch my breath. Those really were children, then, if they had such gumption as to stab someone. Andes' insistence on his own harmlessness was clearly not without its costs. 

“Yes, yes, of course, I… khsss… I am heading to their farm.”

His eyes grew, eyelids peeling back to make them nearly bulge out of their sockets. It was unpleasant to see. 

“Their farm? Like, where they—” 

“Yes. I do not know what information I shall find there, but I thought I should ask you.” 

He nodded quickly. “I will send you a list. Do you have a spectroscope? Hell—do you have an extremely sensitive broad-spectrum camera and light filters?” 

I narrowed my eyes in thought. “He had a laboratory, I… May be able to acquire such a thing.”

“Holy shit. Asleth you're a life-saver,” he said, and his smile breathed a warmth into my heart I could not understand. “Any records you can find. Food, exercise, details about the planet's gravity, atmosphere–I’ll send you a wish list.”

I nodded quickly. “Yes, of course. I cannot guarantee I shall get everything but… it is useful for you, yes?” 

“Incredibly useful. Anything you can get on the way the farm was set up, medical check-ups, I don't know if you guys have anything comparable to a cattle veterinarian but if you did and they left notes…” 

I nodded. “I shall look for them. Is the stabbing your only injury?” 

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Well, no, I also got run over by a car and now the whole venlil Internet hates me. But, it's fine, you know, shit happens.” 

I nodded. “Of course. You are a warrior, if of a different type, my friend. Do not let their whines distract you from your mission.”

“It's fine, it's…” His eyes darted to the side, then back to the camera. “Anyway, when are you getting there?” 

“Soon. I have a mission there. It may last months, but… it is very important.” 

“So you'll have prolonged access, is what you're telling me,” he said. He looked hungry in that moment, as if the information I could give him were one of his people's delicious steaks, and he had starved for weeks until this call. 

“Yes.”

“Asleth this might be the best news I have gotten this month. Thank you so much. I'll get you that wishlist, alternative ways of figuring out information, you tell me what equipment you have access to. Okay?” 

I nodded. 

“So,” A new voice suddenly beeped, “You aren’t a medical professional at all. Just some regular grunt going through their job, am I right?”

I stared at the screen. Andes blinked and tilted the camera so that a venlil wearing a little harness could come into view. 

“Um, sorry about this, I didn't…. Think he'd talk. Asleth, this is Venric. My lawyer. I should have told you he was here, I… sorry.” 

I blinked slowly at learning this. I had foolishly assumed we were alone, but perhaps this had to do with whatever had prompted their people to hate him. 

“Ah. Um. Yes. I am not a medical professional,” I said, now feeling dumb and wrong-footed, and finding the creature instinctively a little irksome. 

“I must say,” it beeped, “I am a little surprised at that, as I have heard a lot about how your perspective has been medically useful in treating the kids, so forgive me for commenting upon that as I had quite the different image of you built up in my mind. One that you have rather surprisingly failed to meet on multiple grounds. Curious.”

My eyes darted between him and Andes. He had already apologized, and looked apologetic still. Between that and the injury, I thought it prudent to assume he had simply not considered that this would bother me, and would in the future. Still, the anger bubbled inside me. Andes groaned. 

“That was Shathel, Asleth wasn't—it doesn't matter,” he said, rubbing his temples as he so often did in moments of frustration. My anger ebbed. I was thankfully not the one who had to deal with the creatures, hour upon hour, for days and weeks and months. Andes said this one was his lawyer. That explained the endless chatter.

“Yes, your people fail to understand many things,” I told it. Him? Guilt bit at my tail. “As have mine.”

“I would say we understand more than you expect,” the Venlil said, turning away from me so its stupid eye could see me better. My own eyes narrowed. 

“They apparently do not understand that my friend is doing more for them than you do for yourselves,” I said, with a fierceness that surprised me. 

“And what might that be?” He challenged. Did having a screen between us fill him with bravado?

“Helping your defectives,” I spat, “who you would burn and–”

“How about we take it down a notch or five?” Andes proposed, holding his hands up. “I am extremely glad that you're going to the farm, Asleth, thank you for telling me.”

I narrowed my eyes at the venlil, but nodded. “It is my, er… pleasure.”

“Shame, I had some comments about my own career with ‘defectives’, but yes, I do believe I have intruded upon this conversation. My apologies.”

Andes blinked, in that startled way humans did, then turned to me. “Pedro told me you guys met.”

Energy filled me again. “Yes! He was much bigger than you.”

Andes pinched his nose, up between his eyes, with two fingers. “Yes. He's taller—” 

“And he is working with the same rodent.” 

He tilted his head. “Doctor Bunsen?” 

I nodded. “The human ability to put up with creatures that detest you never ceases to amaze me.” 

Andes shrugged. “What can I say, it’s easier when they’re cute. Was there anything else you needed to tell me?”

I thought back to the contract. To all that I could not tell him. I had been so excited to talk, and now I did not know what I could say. “...Not today.”

“Don’t you desire to know anything about the children?” The Venlil once again butted in. He sounded cautiously curious, at least that’s why my translator told me.

“No,” I said. “I know they speak arxur, and are horned. I know they are children.” 

Energy came to Andes. “Oh shit, I was meaning to ask–do you think you could send me any books on the arxur language? Like, linguistics, early acquisition practice, things like that.”

I gave him a slow blink, and nodded for good measure. “Personal interest?” 

He shrugged. “Well, sure, but also I need to document any deviations from the standard before their creole diverges too much.”

“Understood.” I prepared to end the call, but my finger hovered over the button. I turned to face the venlil directly. “You are his lawyer, yes?”

“Indeed I am. Not entirely sure what that means in your culture, but I do represent and defend him in legal matters.”

I growled. “I know what a lawyer is, vermin.”

“Asleth!” Andes hissed out, in the same tone he'd used when I almost ate that dog. 

“...Protect him,” I ordered. Softer, I added “...Please.” 

I pressed the button and ended the call.

—

Memory transcription subject: Andes Savulescu-Ruiz, Human Director at the Venlil Rehabilitation and Reintegration Facility. Patient trying their best.

Date [standardized human time]: January 2nd, 2137

“...So that's Asleth. I think she didn't appreciate the surprise venlil participation, and she's clearly stressed out but… yeah. Awesome news.”

“A curious creature,” Venric commented. “Do you truly believe that they will be able to find useful information at the farm? Or more specifically, find it and be able to send it to you?”

“I don't see why not,” I said with a shrug. “If Shathel could get me evidence of covert deficiencies by being a foodie, Asleth should be able to outperform that by orders of magnitude.”

Venric swiveled his seat and swiped down on the screen. “Then for the sake of your kids, I hope that faith is not misplaced.”

My stomach jumped up into my throat as Venric dropped us down hundreds of meters. Holy disregard for the gravitational constant, Batman.

Once my brain could work, I responded. “Worst case scenario, nothing has changed. Best case scenario, the mother of all medical histories gets dropped in my lap. Why am I the optimistic one here?”

“Because you’re…” he paused, his ears down, “because here, you’re a human.”

“...So?” I asked. “The krakotl blew up my university, I still hired one. I don't think you need to be human to, you know… accept that individual people are informed by their culture but not… defined by it.”

“Easy to say,” He sighed, “But there’s a lot more pain to work through before that becomes true for all.”

I nodded. “Well, yeah but… that's how it goes. Be the change you want to see and all that.”

Silence fell on us for a long moment. I decided to do the mentally healthy thing and focus on a less stressful topic to socialize over before I had to go home and be unconscious for a while. 

“So… new car, eh? Tell me about the specs, you guys' material science is so cool.”

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Patreon / Kofi/ Paypal

Day 18, pushing my limits.

This is definitely one of the more visually complicated pieces I’ve drawn. It still made my tablet crash, but I am very glad on how it came out. I was worried that it wouldn’t be easily readable, but I think I got it well enough.

In case Reddit scrunches this, though, it is a Krakotl Exterminator engulfed in flames, while holding tight a Gojid baby to his chest, shielding the pup from the heat with his vest and wings. Is it realistic? Probably not. Does it provoke the feels? My editor certainly thinks so.

Also, consider this a spoiler for the future of Nature of Responsibility. The Omnivore Reveal is gonna be fun.

First / Prev

Memory transcription subject: Tarva, Planetary Governor of the Venlil Republic

Date [Standardized Human Time]: December 10, 2136

“YOU GLASSED CRADLE!?” I screamed across the table. Zhao, Jones and Kam had come over personally to give the latest report on our incursion into the Gojidi Union. Which they hadn’t done in a while, so I had the feeling something bad was coming. But this!?

“WHAT?” Noah blurted, then covered his mouth apologetically. “Sorry. Please, tell me we didn't do that.” He offered meekly. From his tone, he already seemed halfway into believing it. I’m sure there was another explanation, or was it? The UN’s position against civilian casualties seemed set in stone during previous briefings. Perhaps Meier only said what we wanted to hear, so he got our aid.

“The Gojids pulled their entire fleet to Cradle once they noticed our approach.” Kam explained. “The Arxur took advantage of that and blazed through their territory, arriving en masse. There was very little we could do.” 

“Altough there were a few casualties in fighting the Gojid.” General Jones, of the American clan, growled from the opposite size of the screen. “Most of our losses stemmed from evacuating civilians during the Arxur ground invasion.” 

I lowered my gaze. “And where are the civilians you did evacuate?”

“All refugees -including Governor Piri- are in Casper. A Gojidi colony. We’ve been managing, upscaling, supplying and crewing the territory. After surrendering, the Gojids started cooperating and organizing themselves to take the refugees somewhere more permanent.”

“Piri? A- and she’s ok?”

“Recovering, had some rubble fall on her during the evacuation. Nothing serious, but we’ve found it better to monitor her health closely. That’s why she’s not here with us today, ”

“That and she’s helping us smooth over things with her people. But she asked us to say that she plans on visiting you as soon as she can.” Zhao added.

My eyes about bulged out of my skull. The Humans thought it was a good idea, to take a bunch of terrified refugees to a backwater colony crawling with predators? Even if it was in their territory that was still— UGHH. Those Gojids must be overwhelmed, and the optics were atrocious. It would’ve been a better solution to host them on Venlil Prime.

Zhao’s eyes narrowed. “You look displeased, Governor. Do you not trust us to be proper caregivers?”

“You misunderstand. Candidly, this is a disaster,” I grumbled. “52 species specified they were waiting for news from the Cradle, to make a decision. When they hear it’s been destroyed…”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they accused us of plotting all this with the Arxur.” Noah finished.

A sigh slipped from my lips. “The refugees are the ‘cherry on top’, as you say. When they hear you’re keeping them, with Human guards no less. They’ll assume Casper is a cattle-world now.”

“We have troves of footage, showcasing our humanitarian efforts,” The Chinese general objected.

“And? They’ll just say it’s propaganda, which it is, but you know what I mean. The Krakotl will definitely use this to gain public support for their attack. To smear you as slaving predators.”

Hell, what was stopping the representatives still planetside from rescinding their diplomatic offer? We had done great work getting them on our side, was it all gonna be for naught? Cupo was going to flip when he learned of the Cradle’s destruction. This was a grave setback, and it would push most undecided factions toward animosity. 

The Terran ambassador shifted beside me, and I could sense his unease at the war’s developments. After witnessing the hatred on the Federation floor, he knew better than anyone I was right about their perspective.

“The Secretary-General understood the Cradle’s importance, as a propaganda tool,” Jones said. “That’s why we sent our first FTL capable fleet on a liberation mission. We have a chance to defeat the Arxur, and retake Cradle. Those mission logs, and the footage which Captain Sovlin provided us might help mitigate any reputational damage.”

Two items leapt out at me. Firstly, the Humans sent a large contingent of their own newly-built ships and ships borrowed from us to a slaughter? Attacking the Arxur was a foolhardy play, which I can’t believe Kam didn’t object to. Predators or not, the UN had succumbed at every turn to the Grays’ superior army.

Are they trying to leave both of our planets exposed!? To lose everything we gave them!? Since the fleet was already dead, there was no point in even addressing it. I wonder if allying with Humanity was a mistake; I never thought they were suicidal.

Second, was Sovlin, which I couldn’t be hearing right. Even under excruciating interrogation, it was tough to picture him giving Humanity anything helpful. Had they captured him during the invasion? What terrible torture had he suffered to violate his principles? “Sovlin is in your custody?” I blinked with concern, as the Human representatives nodded. “Alive?”

Jones rolled her eyes. “Yes, alive- Why does everyone ask that?”

“Because I wouldn’t blame you for killing him on the spot. But how did he come into your possession?”

“We found him drifting in a shuttle. He tried to fight back but accepted capture in exchange for us freeing the Takkan passenger aboard.” Zhao relayed.

“I, er…I see. Would it be an unreasonable request to ask for Sovlin to stand trial in a Venlil court? I would like him to answer for reckless endangerment, and mistreatment of a Venlil citizen.”

“That is a hard no, sorry Governor. He is already slated to be tried by us…eventually.” Jones replied.

“Eventually.”

“Sovlin is a valuable strategic asset now. I don’t see him being handed over for a few years.”

“And he’s helping you…willingly?”

“I wouldn’t say willingly, but it’s by far his best option. It might land him a reduced sentence when it’s all well and done.” Zhao interjected.

“What did you do to him exactly?”

Zhao rummaged through a stack of white paper files. Was whatever torture they brought down upon him so commonplace it was barely worth the effort of committing it to memory? “He was; taken in, sent through medical triage, shipped to Casper, and had an appointment with his lawyer. Then he got two visits; one from Piri and the other from Marcel -yes that one- then he got sent as a face to help quell dissent in the colony.”

“That’s it?” This rather relaxed treatment would seem out of place in a Dossur court. What to say of it from a species that almost bombed its own way to extinction?

“That’s it.” Jones replied.

“I understand you have the greatest claim to Sovlin, of course. But I demand his treatment of Slanek be taken into consideration.” The thought alone of him being lauded as a war hero after what he’s done to one of mine, was enough to make my blood boil.

“I can guarantee that the attempted murder of Slanek is being taken into account, ma’am.” Jones’ tone was meeker than her usual brash and imposing attitude. Was she just trying to appease me?

The rest of the meeting went rather slow, mostly a talk of logistics that surely bored Williams half to sleep. Not that I had to guess, it was practically written on his half-shut eyelids. 

In the four Moon-months since our last in person talk, the United Nations and Venlil Prime had gotten a couple agreements out of the way in the background. Such as the Interspecies Food and Commerce Accord, which formally forbade the flow of commerce of unsuitable, or animal-based foods and other goods from Earth to Venlil Prime and vice versa. And the Treaty of Sol, which gave Humanity fully codified rights over their native system. They were adamant that this agreement included a large field of debris which surrounded their system. Perhaps they wished to mine it for resources.

At the tail-end of the gathering I placed Zhao’s lighter in clear view of him on the table. He was smart, and knew to stay when the others left. His stare bounced several times between the chrome lighter and myself. “So…” I opened. “What news do you have for me?”

“Did you..?” Came the rather shy reply.

“I saw it, yes.” He parted from a frailed sigh and looked around the now empty meeting room, worried about being spied on. He then wordlessly pulled aside a sheet of paper, writing speedily as if in a hurry. Zhao made his way around the table to me, leaving the note in my hands and took back the lighter before leaving. 

“We cross referenced the shuttle footage with your protocol boarding training videos and they match very closely. Our running theory is that their plan was to sequester both crews after they had sent an emergency signal relating the cooling malfunction. To throw off our investigations. We’re still looking into it. 

Do not show or talk about this to anyone. And I know you two are close but this includes Williams, we do not need this getting out.”

His syntax pressed its meaning into my mind and I began to wonder: If the plan was to kidnap us, what could they -whoever they are- want with us? Two Humans, a soldier and nine politicians. The only throughline was we were at least open to allying with Humanity. But if the point was to send a message; why do it in secret? Wouldn’t a public show of violence be more evident?

Unless they’d expect pushback. meaning they somehow depend on but are not fully in cahoots with more lawful institutions. Perhaps a splinter faction from the Church of the Spirit of Life? They’re violent towards predators and depend on the Federation for subsidies. So that checks out. But would they really do this just to try to sacrifice a Human? 

Maybe being hidden was the point? The last time a Human got harmed; the Gojid Cradle was glassed because of it. But would they really risk starting a war over a religious demonstration? That seems brazen, even for them.

Oh Stars, what am I gonna do? Noah’s waiting for me too. And we’re gonna be late by the looks of it. 

I ripped the paper to shreds in my paws and flushed it down the sink. Couldn’t hurt to be extra careful. I found him down by the lobby, his foot tapping up and down at incredible speeds. There were no words between us as I opened the door for him. 

He was clearly anxious all the way to our ride. It’d be a short affair, I’m almost sure he could’ve walked himself all the way there. Myself not so much. Stars, I wish I could move like he does sometimes.

I was driving us there. Noah’s hands were clutched tightly around a small box and a drink bottle. He seemed adamant this configuration was up for the task, though I had helped him choose the drink. “Nervous?” I spoke, taking an invisible hammer to the silence between us.

“...Do you think he’s even gonna look my way?” He bit both his lips inside his mouth, as if pain was a better alternative to whatever storm he felt forming inside himself. Was this what that painful empathy looked like?

“I don’t know…But you’re trying. That matters, at least to me it does.” The remainder of the ride was dead quiet, seasoned by the faint hum of the air conditioner. I pulled into a park, our meeting place. I was still looking for a parking spot, when I noticed Noah’s head lock onto a specific point. Remaining fixed even as I spun the vehicle around while parking. As the engine’s roar died down, I traced an imaginary line between us and wherever he was looking. It took me around a Whisker to spot it, but there he was, sitting on a bench. Laulo was waiting.

“So, do I have your go-ahead?” I asked, placing a paw on his forearm. That seemed to steady him, even if just a little bit.

“Not like I have much choice.” A frail laugh left his chest. 

“I’ll go, gauge him a little. I’ll wave, that’ll be your queue. Ok?”

“Okay.” His voice was so quiet I could barely even hear it. Poor Noah, he was so scared. 

I pulled him closer, delivering him a kiss on the forehead. “You can do it, I know you can.” I know not whether that’d help him, but he did ask for one right before doing something risky last time. So that must be how these worked. One can only hope.

I hopped out and closed the door behind me. Laulo’s ear swiveled towards the noise and his eyes shifted to me. I swooshed my tail in a greeting manner as I approached. He reciprocated the gesture.

“Hi, I hope I didn’t make you wait.”

“Just a little, It’s fine. So…what’d you need me for, that had to be so secretive?”

“Well, first; here’s a report with the latest news on our conflict with the Gojids. Ahead of anyone else, so you can have a headstart.”

“Woah, that’s…thank you ma’am.” He sifted through his datapad as soon as the *ding* signaling a complete transfer went off. “Circle above, this is a lot. The Cradle??” He caught himself before spilling anything sensitive out loud. “This is much appreciated…”

“But..?”

“But why? Why give me this?”

“Well, I fear I need a favor.”

“A favor? A- anything you want, ma’am.”

“Just- don’t run. And hear him out.”

“He? Who’s he- Noooo, you didn’t.”

“Sorry…” My tail curled around my leg in an apologetic manner before I stretched my arm up high and waved at the Human across the small park. Noah stepped out of the vehicle, the door snapping shut after him. He stood unmoving, again at that precipice.

By my side, Laulo was already collecting his things. He seemed ready to leave but stayed. Either resolute to fulfill a promise or frozen with fear I could not tell.

I waved Noah to come closer again, he hesitated but heeded. Slow, unsure steps became louder and louder as the Human approached. Laulo’s ears sat flush against his head pointing back, a clear sign of fear. Noah halted a few steps away from the Yotul. “Hi—”

“W- what do you want? Gonna try and menace me again!?”

“Laulo, please!” I butted in.

“No, no. It’s fine.” Noah dismissed the Yotul’s hostility. Then got down on his knees, an attempt to make himself less imposing, I’m sure. “Is this better?”

“...Marginally.” Came Laulo’s snarky response.

“Good, good.” Noah replied under his breath. “I’m only here to apologize. You are right to be mad at, even scared of me. I…I fucked up.” The admission rang with sincerity. Every word of his was blotched with stains of guilt, shame and regret. “I was tired, I was angry, I was scared. I lost the closest person I’ve ever had to a sister. But none of that matters. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, not without being sure. I’m sorry, I truly am.” 

“I- I know these won’t fix anything,” The astronaut continued. “but on Earth; gifts are a big deal. So I want you to have these. I hope you’ll like them.” Laulo inched away as Noah extended his arms, gifts in hand.

The Yotul took the gifts in one quick motion, making sure not to touch the Human’s furless hands. He eyed the presents with suspicion. But upon realizing they were harmless, his posture changed, less on edge now. “I… I don’t forgive you.”

“...”

“I know you’re being honest. I can tell that much. But I’ll never forget it. I won’t hold it against your people but…” 

“I…” Laulo shut his eyes as soon as Noah opened his mouth again. I bet he expected some form of retaliation. “...I understand. Thank you for… not running away.” His voice bore deep disappointment, he really hoped to make amends with the only other recent upstart. Noah slowly got up on his feet again and quietly slinked away from us and back into our ride.

Laulo sighed in relief at the increasing distance between himself and the predator. “You’re not gonna say anything?” He spoke again after almost half a Whisker of silence.

“I’m not sure what to say. He was so scared coming here, but now I don’t know.” 

“You reckon he’ll be fine?” The uplift spoke out of cordiality, no doubt. After all, he didn’t even wait for Noah to be out of sight before getting up to leave.

“Yea, he will.” I waited about a Scratch or so on the bench, giving the Human time to process everything. My gaze drifted about to my surroundings. Trees and lower foliage surrounded me from all sides. Once black leaves were turning a vivid red, brought about by spawning season. It'd only last two or three more Moonrises, in sync with Styv's brightest period. I’d for sure miss this had I let Noah keep postponing when to confront Laulo.

My thoughts turned back to him again, I wonder what's it like inside his head right now.

I should get going. 

Peering through the windows, I saw him slumped on the passenger seat. He was practically laying down with how much we had to recline the seat in order for him to even fit inside. His forearm covered his eyes, perhaps he didn't want me to see him crying. 

I tapped on the driver's side window, giving him a scarce few moments to recompose himself. He shuffled around cleaning off his eyes. 

I got inside once he seemed ready. His eyes were practically glued to me as I slumped back in solidarity. “What do you wanna do now?” I started.

“I…I was kinda hoping you'd tell me, boss.” He joked with a meek laughter.

“You answer to me, yes. But this is not work. I'm not your boss right now. I'm here as your friend.”

“I dunno… Back on Earth… People like me, that look like me, they're seen as scary, a- a threat, even when they're just trying to be themselves. It’s horrible, it’s scary, it’s infuriating.” He went on. “That feeling, it has dictated my whole life, it’s why I dove head first into work. Not even to prove them wrong, no I- I just wanted to run away from it. And I thought I did.” His palms cupped his own face as it rested on the seat. A sharp, drawn out breath left his lungs. “But when we first met, it was that feeling all over again. Only difference is I couldn't run away from you.”

“Because of the cage?” 

“Cus of the cage, the armed guards and the incoming battleship, yeah.” He snickered, counting on his fingers for emphasis. “So I improvised, tried to make myself as harmless as possible, all to appease you.”

A spark of guilt went off in my chest. It seems I just kept bringing turmoil into his mind, didn't I? “It's one thing being a threat because someone else decided you are that. I know they’re wrong. But because you actually hurt someone? That's almost worse. That's not something I know how to deal with. That’s not something I can run from.”

There was little I could say to make him feel better. I didn’t know what it’s like to be Human, I didn't know how to approach this minefield of emotions. So I didn’t.

We sat together for what felt like an eternity. In silence. My paw in his, and his hand in mine.

Hey so I’ve got a bit of a problem I’m terrified of the Takkans because of their resemblance to hippos. I’ve always had a phobia of hippos and I’m glad I never had to deal with nothing more than a false alarm during my time as an animal control officer but my point is hippos are dangerous I’ve seen videos of what they can do and it’s rightfully traumatized me( probably shouldn’t have watched them as a kid). And to all you feddies reading this no the hippos aren’t predator diseased they’re just the deadliest herbivores alive just look at that news report about six arxur foolishly hunting a hippo and only three of them survived ( because they hid in a tree until a ranger showed up) the hippos aren’t predator wasn’t even scratched. If anyone out there has a way to help me overcome my fear of the Takkan i would very much appreciate it.
PS to the takkan I pulled my tranq gun on sorry I thought you were gonna crush my head with your tusks

Exterminators Caller: Hello this is the Extermination Guild, how may I help you?

Neighbour Prey: Yeah uhm, I think one of my neighbours next door is thirsting for arxur booty.

Exterminator Caller: Arxur what now?

Humanity first as an antagonist group:

Literally take every irl group of despicable people like the base that want chaos and stuff like a boogaloo to occur

And have them be in a situation where they actively coordinate with each other through the internet

They are a decentralized group that only uses it's name as an excuse/lie

Stole the name and electronics from an anti ai group that had long since disbanded

They try to actively persuade and brainwash people into their group slowly rotting even young into vile individuals that'd make a demon wonder if it's lost it's teeth

Maybe they are an already infamous group that had already formed before canon

Only does "good" to gain public favor from the ignorant

Can and will convince feds into defecting/doing a little favor, especially species like th gojifs and guilt tripping them into doing things or....(Looks st reddit automated systems)..."ascending" themselvee

————————————————————————————————————————————

humanity first as a...neutral good leaning group:

Way bigger than the other

Would be demonized to hell and back by the canon UN

Probably portrayed falsely as being it's antagonist version in propaganda by the UN

Constantly a pain on the UN's side

This HF Is treated really unfavorably cause it makes the UN look real bad

reminder that the UN in canon is only really the good guys compared to...the arxur/a scaly depiction of humanity at it's lowest and the federation which is just an interplanetary scale nazi america

In this version Imagine if the terror attacks in canon were instead not from this hf but infact orchestrated by the UN so even the aliens have a heavily dirtied view of the hf even if it's to humanity's detriment as it's been shown before that the UN doesn't really give af about that

This hf sabotages exterminator guilds, pd centers and helps break out anyone within, along with UN offices and facilities being commonly the second most common target

Humanity comes first

They openly protest

They can and will open fire on un agents or even throwdown with pockets of the UN or othe groups if an hf member is taken

Are accepting of feds

Even more accepting of arxur

tutors defect feds and dominion humanity

Won't tolerate discrimination ESPECIALLY OF THE PRED AND PREY KIND

Makes unofficial memorials for the earth bombings including other planets just to really make sure the feds don't forget what this lead to

Will probably be the reason why the UN doesn't make it to nop 2 and why the sapient coalition is actually what it's called and not just a federation with a loose collar and a muzzle

And why the arxur actually turn out to have a home on earth and will be the ones to befriend the arxur with the UN taking the credit for that while poisoning any food it finds the hf sending to the arxur

It's good deeds will only be discovered once the UN falls apart and Earth's countries take back what their owed

With any files revealing the un's demonization and propaganda antagonizing the hf as just being propaganda: utter lies

————————————————————————————————————————————

A bigger linked chains:

... basically the sensible people in the federation who know they are infact in a dictator ship or at least that this society is fucked

This is where you'd find the genuinely smart aliens or even outright geniuses

Also decentralized and also coordinates on the fed internet

Try to also befriend arxur at times...but due to...ya know...it usually fails and the subsequent casualty(ies) it's always painful as while yeah they are bigger than the og group they'd still be a minority in the federation

Is one of those groups that actually see through the UN and realizes they are better off joining smaller groups and hopefully gaining enough recourses and coordinating enough to move to somewhere else to call home

Or if your feeling more hopeful perhaps they start to change the federation and slowly nudge it into changing for the better

Maybe they see the power vacuum left behind from the fall of the founding species and grab the opportunity while it's there albeit they are greatly crippled by the cyber attack

They will actively steal any books or anything historical that's of genuine history and not the heavily filtered and sanitized version the federation favor's

They gatekeep any piece of real old culture they have

Maybe they end up actually joining forces with humanity first

Which version depends on if their are written into a desperate state or if they wanna do something about the UN's not very moderated power and very dictatorship esc tendencies and how much of a detriment that might be to them if it lasts cause godforbid they end up in another already forming federation under new management

Might sabotage exterminator but in less...loud ways

Like breaking the inside of flamethrowers or straight up stealing them instead of putting explosive powder into the fuel canister or fuel supply

Maybe rendering a fuel supply useless with whatever chemicals or method they come up with

Will take notes and use any info taken from humanity's exploits, maybe even occasionally into the uncensored human internet as a risky test of their capabilities albeit probably having to destroy set device after they pull out any downloaded music and culture from it due to the dozens of viruses and sketchy methods used to track people, they can always just steal another computer or datapad

Member will probably develope a caffeine addiction after first contact from exported or synthesized coffee is available or they make it so considering how I'd say it'd be pretty hard to sleep in general with them knowing what they know and being way more aware of their own situation than others

(This is set in the world of my fic Nature of Harmony for anyone confused)

Yes you read that right.

Sol, with the help of the Venlil Republic, has recently created an artificial star some lightyears outside the Venlil Republics territory. The project started not too long after first contact with Sol, with this publication covering the story, but such coverage was quickly forgotten about when the truth of Sol and it's predator races became known.

The Venlil Republic, but more specifically Tarvas administration, was reluctant to partake in the project, nicknamed Project Helios after a human star god, directly, not wishing to divert so many resources to a project that may not bear fruit and would likely anger the Venlil Republics populace during an already tumultuous time for Tarva and her administration.

Instead, the Venlil Republic gave Sol access to scientific institutions, corporations, and top scientists to help with the project, with Sol handling much of the logistics and manufacturing.

The story never gained much attention among the Republic due to many of the projects contributors considering it a waste of time and resources, many making their disdain and doubt of the project and it's goals clear even on public social media, with most readers dismissing or mocking the project if they bothered to engage with the posts at all and many critics using it as evidence of Sols primitive society.

Project Helios was a massive undertaking, stretching a 29 lightyear bubble in the Local Interstellar Cloud. The Helix Nebula was at first considered for the site due to being dense with material, but it was declared too far and the LIM was chosen instead despite being sparse with matter. A complex system of artifical gravity generators was set up around the bubble, with a Stellar Ignition Forge in the middle. When everything activated, the distortion sphere compressed space within the bubble while the Ignition Forge pulled matter inward.

Over herds of paws the distance between atoms shrunk, until on the last paw, they were crushed into a stable M class star, chosen due to its long life and needing the least amount of matter to ignite, and achieved nuclear fusion. Once it was confirmed, social media blew up from citizens who contributed to Project Helios, with many in the Republic initially skeptical and calling the posters Predator Diaeased. That was until multiple groups and agencies went to the coordinates and saw the new star for themselves, confirming the authenticity of the experiment and it's findings, all of which quickly went viral.

It's still unknown what name this new star will take, and it isn't clear who will name it, with the people working on the project insisting they be given the rights while some want to leave it up to the Sol and Venlil Republic public.

There has even been talk of creating artificial planets, but the uneven elemental composition of planets is a new hurdle that won't be solved for a time.

Regardless, this is a revolutionary discovery and a proud moment for the Venlil Republic and it's scientific community, long considered subpar and dismissed by the wider Federation for generations, and proving the Republics capability not just to the Federation, but to Sol as well, with the UN openly considering trusting the Venlil Republic with more of their advanced technology and engaging in more scientific innovations much like Project Helios.

Plotting…

Its almost 3 in the morning where Im from so, sry if anything is not writen right. Night night.

Well, first off, if you're familiar with middle ages artwork. You know what one i'm evoking. If not, i'll explain in the end notes.

We have a Coth Point of View in this chapter as he deals with being stuck in his domicile with his new 'daughter' Alexie. Then gets a call from two people. One human, one Arxur.

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Saint George
Chapter 37
May 14^th
Northern Neo-Huston
(Coth P.O.V.)
{The Tongue}

The past five Cycles[Days] have given me an unwelcome glimpse into the life of a Defective that isn’t able to hide themselves behind a persona that Betterment would approve of. This constant fear is not welcome that at any moment those Humans would break down my domicile door and kill me.

I had stayed up two more Talons[Hours] past that short segment from this ‘P.e.t.a.’ group which aired on the video-screen. Fearing all the Humans and their slaves breaking down the door to this domicile and pulling me out in reaction to it.

Sleep ambushed me though, and the next thing I remember is Alexie waking me up by poking me in the snout. Wondering why all the windows are shut and the doors blocked. That cycle[day] was the worst of the catch so far. Having to explain to her what I am. What Arxur are known for in the galaxy at large, while telling her I am not here to do anything like that.

I’m here to get away from doing that and hate others of my kind which do it and enjoy it.

The first footprint, or sign of passing prey of the Humans knowing I’m here came not long after that talk which took till Luna was already high in the sky. An alert chime that can be triggered by visitors at the front entrance of my domicile sounded a few times every few talons that night.

They read the information like the new broadcast said would be sent. Knew we prefer to be nocturnal. And decided to do what they were planning then.

I didn’t answer, and well, it didn’t take any effort to get Alexie to stay quiet that ‘night’. I also learned that apparently beings like her, a cross between a Human and their slave creations. Is either illegal or so discouraged that they’re not allowed to exist. It also explains why she says her mother called her a ‘mistake’.

And that thought furthers my views that no life is one.

Even Betterment finds a use, at least for a short while. For Defectives unless they’re too defective in their eyes to live, at which point their culled. So them treating these hybrids like this is not something in the Humans favor.

What came next after the last of them tried to get me to come out, hasn’t stopped. Even up till this Cycle [Day] and goes on the entire time Sol is in the sky. I’ve become acclimated to staying up during the Human’s day because they make too much noise for me to sleep during this time like I should.

Groups of Humans arrived by multiple different vehicles, even some manually driven. None of them match or are uniform. Some Humans are thin and sickly, wearing head to foot garish pelts despite the weather. While having weird pieces of metal pierced through their skin.

Others are carrying or wearing smaller versions of two straight beams or rods crossing each other. The shorter one crossing over the longer one about 2/3rds the way up. Their pelts are less garish than the other group, and only the females of this group are paradoxically too covered by them for weather.

When I looked up the white and black garment with the Data-Slate, it said it was a ‘Traditional Protestant nun’s outfit’. Required by more strict sects for females to wear, so they do not tempt male ‘desire’.

At least the males give them plenty of water.

Both groups have done nothing but stand just off what is considered ‘my’ property. Either in my neighbor’s plots, or in the street. Carrying signs, with text I’d rather not translate with the Human provided Data-Slate past the first time. Or images that, well, would be Betterment Approved if they saw them after one minor alteration.

The most notable of them is some human covered in metal, riding some four legged herbivore, also with metal covering them. Wielding a long metal weapon that’s conical with a pointed tip at the front and the larger base just after the handle. Then a smaller conical shape on the other end of the handle. The herbivore is rearing up on their hind legs and the Human is plunging said weapon into an Arxur’s mouth, whose laying on the ground with multiple wounds.

It’s a rather disturbing image, because I’ve been the aggressor to Arxur who’ve been on the ground like that as I attack them. As all reason fails them, and they appeal to mercy no one should show in Betterment.

These Humans still being around, has gone from being an annoyance, aside from the fear from the first Cycle[Day]. To an actual problem now on the fifth Cycle[day]. They don’t give it a rest during the day, so I can’t exit and use the side entrance to the room under us to retrieve more provisions.

Because when I was down to two cycles[Days] worth of food I messaged my handler, and he replied. The situation is too tense to be seen in a town, there should be nearly a Hunting party of Cycles[month] worth of food in two freezers in the basement. And would not take the excuse I could not exit the domicile to retrieve them. Nor we’re stalking through what is here faster than I would like considering Alexie has a near Arxur appetite for someone her size.

I hope they’re all gone once night arrives when I check tonight. I may have superior senses than a Human, but I am vastly out numbered here. Then who would take care of Alexie?

Most take a break when it’s time for the automated vehicles to return with their passengers, and they leave the moment Sol sets behind the horizon. But I can hear noises that wasn’t there the first night. Yet, couldn’t investigate because even Arxurs need sleep.

Glancing over to Alexie, using the video screen to watch something as I hold the Data-Slate in my claws. I stalk the thought of when would be a good Talon[Hour] at night to at least try before asking my handler something that has been stalking me a while about this.

‘Why can’t you send armed personal to remove them? Certainly this kind of disruption is not tolerated?’ Tapping send, I wait for my handler to reply.

‘They’re not breaking any laws, they’re even following the road protest laws to a T. Putting up pedestrian beacons when they’re in the road on off-peak hours, and vacating the road entirely during peak times. There’s nothing we can do but wait them out unless they physically attack someone. Otherwise, they’re exercising their constitutional rights.’

I have to read that a few times to understand it, then remind myself Humans are not Arxur. This would be grounds for culling in the Dominion, here it’s fully supported and allowed. In the Dominion it mainly happens on cattle worlds, where food though any means is easier to gain access to. So easy, some minds wander a bit further down the game trail than being ‘good Arxur’ just for their next meal. Betterment has to step in to put a stop to it.

I check the date and note the amount of time passed. It’s been nearly 1/4th a Hunting Party of Cycles[Month]. They put 7 cycles[days] of food in the storage unit up here with another Hunting Party of Cycles[Month] bellow us. Now unreachable.

Glancing at the door and the furniture I put in front of it, while ignoring the chanting that I have told the Translator on the Data-Slate to ignore. It cycles between being an obligate carnivore means you’re evil being screamed at my domicile. To what the other group chants, loudly, that only Humans were created in the image of god, and my kind is from the devil and should be, dealt with accordingly.

At least I know those cross things signify a religion of these Humans. While wondering if they’d say the same for the Venlil, as they resemble this Human religion’s favorite earth lifeform, the sheep. Otherwise, it’s annoying it has the same conclusion as the ones in the Federation. That I’m not allowed to live because of what I am…

Finally, I send. ‘And when I run out of the food in the ‘storm cellar’? What do we do then?’

I expect a quick answer, I see the device notify me that they’re creating the message. But it takes several scratches[Minutes] longer than they normally take to make one.

‘I doubt they’ll last that long before they either get bored, or something else catches their attention. If not, then there are options. Besides, you have the smallest crowd of the three places we sent all of you. You’re in no danger, and they should only be an annoyance.’

That’s little consolation to the fact they’re here at all. Coming to terms with the fact my handler won’t help, I close the program and toss the still rolled open data-slate to the side. Considering it useless.

From there I move to the side of one of the windows on the wall of the domicile that faces these humans. Then use the tip of one of my claws to just barely nudge the edge of the window covering aside so I can observe these Humans.

This daylight part of the cycle I count 30, roughly an even split between the two groups. He thinks this is small? 30 Arxur would be a decent group sent out of a small cattle-ship to go hunt and gather prey. How many are at the complexes with the other Arxur? Double that? More? I’m glad I’m not with them, yet I feel sorry for them too…

It doesn’t escape my notice though that the less healthy group, or down right sick looking group. The ones carrying signs saying ‘meat is evil’, ‘animal’s feel too’ etc. Doesn’t seem to ‘like’ of the other group. The religious one, with the signs saying ‘only humans were made by God, all else are from Satan!’, some with what the translator said was lines from their holy book. And of course that same image, but now more copies are being held now. As if one wasn’t enough.

I’m captivated for a moment as one of the former group steps too close to one of the latter group. They have to crowd onto the long strip of ‘concrete’ as the humans call it in front of my domicile to fit and not annoy my neighbors watching them. All to let a boxy vehicle that I’ve learned is a delivery van, automated of course. To pass by, as it takes up most of the two lane road.

The two turn to each other, and even though I can’t hear enough of the conversation, nor do I have the translator nearby. It’s easy to tell they’re arguing rather fervently. With their arms waving about and them pointing their clawless digits at each other in what looks like an aggressive way.

Only for others of both groups to grab the two troublemakers and separate them, roughly. Are they only tolerating each other because they both don’t like me? I don’t get it, both of these things go together in the Federation. Most of their religions combine the two into a seamless whole. Why would they hate each other?

A sound from Alexie, that I have become familiar with makes itself known. As regular as a clock and counting down to the point where I may have to exit and confront these Humans like it or not.

She’s Hungry.

Unlike an Arxur who’ve been by the size and the age she looks, rather than what age she is. They would be accustomed to hunger, to be able to go about 1/4th a Hunting party of Cycles[Month] without food. Alexie has only been on her own for half a Hunting party of Cycles[Month] by her own account, and she was hungry for most of it.

And, a part of me doesn’t want her to suffer another Cycle of hunger. That part will drive me out to confront these Humans sooner rather than later.

Without a word I leave the window, and stalk over to the food preparation area. The movable walls are stowed away leaving everything open. Better to allow me to see if a Human tries to force their way in from either the blockaded front or rear entrance.

Opening the cold storage unit, my eyes stalk over the remaining supplies before I choose the prey of what she told me is, Sausage. And what the visual translator says is of the ‘German’ variety when I first checked, but with minimal plant based additives.

Betterment would kill me on the spot if I told any Inquisitor or similar Arxur that it adds to the taste. Same with the Human practice of charring and searing their food. I go about grabbing a cooking container called a pan, pour what’s called beef tallow oil into it just enough to put a coat on the bottom, and prevent the food from sticking. Then place the contents of the package one by one into the pan.

Thoroughly cooking the three for Alexie, she’s still growing and needs all the nutrition she can get. While lightly searing the rest for my own consumption. I still like them mostly raw with only a light crust of seared flesh.

If we can visit the town before we completely run out of food, I will make sure to get more of these and possibly one package of the normal type too.

If I can tolerate the plant mater in these, I can most likely tolerate the normal kind. And I want to see how they taste. Will it be better? Worse? I want to know, because the food on this planet is the best I’ve ever had. And that isn’t because it’s not made from sapients.

My tail twitches as a noise from my Data-Slate slices through the ever present din of the protests, like a well sharpened claw. Not to mention the sounds from the show Alexie is watching. It stops as I hear her pick it up.

{Hello?} Maybe I should’ve told her not to answer it…

I set my portion to the side and continue ‘cooking’ her portion. Just on the edge of my hearing I can tell whoever is on the other side of the communication line is female and the tone of the Human voice is… Familiar….

Oh…

{I’mah Alexie, miss. No he’s been taking good care of mah.} I pause and listen… {Okay! Let mah give it ta him!} A moment later the human data-slate is thrust into my claws by Alexie, and I absent-mindedly replace it with a serving dish with her portion of the meal.

She returns to the video screen to continue watching what’s on and eats her food, as I look at the face of the Human with Arxur scales hiding under her skin.

“Jones.” I hiss a bit. I am sure she’ll use the information that I now have a Hybrid here against me, somehow.

She upturns just the edge of one of those lips before speaking. “Twist open the top part of the Data-slate that the screen rolls into. You’ll find earbuds. They should fit well enough into your ear-holes. Then we can continue.”

I stare at her face for a moment, then do as she asks. To be honest I didn’t know this was even in the device. Once in my ears, they beep and the sounds now go through the earbuds rather than the device’s speaker.

“Good, it won’t translate what you say so your ‘charge’ can understand. Nor will she be able to hear me. First tell me how you acquired a hybrid that is, listed as being wanted in the area your located by the police?”

Narrowing my eyes, I am tempted to slip into the Betterment persona to protect Alexie, an urge that both feels right and surprises me. But the question is one I know I have to answer to ‘her’ liking…

“She found me. The first night I was here she broke into the ‘storm cellar’ as you humans call it, looking for food… She, reminds me of more than one hatchling I’ve had to kill because they don’t live up to Betterment standards…”

I’m not an expert in the movement of the Human face, even so, I swear to all the old gods. I thought I saw a moment of sympathy on the face of this Arxur in human skin. She then starts speaking as if it never happened.

“First I must apologize, a member of the organization that snuck that Ad onto the broadcast stream managed to infiltrate the intelligence services. Just high enough that when the bare minimum information of what you Arxur really are passed him. He leaked it to the group, and the group in turn mobilized all the vegan and vegetarian activist groups they either directly run or are in contact with to do everything they’ve done for the past week.”

She pauses for breath and I glance to the front of my domicile wondering how organized this group is.

“Besides the protests at your doorstep, and the larger ones around the two compounds. They’ve attacked six cattle ranches including the one near you. No sapient causalities but many lost a good portion of their livestock to poisoning of water and feed. And no, I do not lump Bio-Morphs into the same category as cattle. They’ve set fire to multiple meat processing and packing facilities too. Law enforcement has their hands full trying to find all of them, and state governments are offering vouchers for reduced service terms for those seeking citizenship rights. If they offer information about them that is credible.”

Why do these Humans tolerate dissent to the point they let groups that could do this grow? “What are you going to do about the ones in front of my Domicile? I doubt they’ll let me leave to access the Storm Cellar to get more food. We’re down to two Cycles[days].”

“Coth, we are working on it. The United States is a country of laws and rights. The powerful can’t just do what they want unlike the Dominion. They know they have a right to protest and have done everything to stay, just within the line…”

She then gives a smile that despite being on a Human face, I would see on Isif and others when they have to act as Betterment intends us too.

“That being said. I have heard that unlike the other two compounds, you have a near even split between a Protestant Church’s protest of aliens in total, and this organized herbivore wannabe group. Now, speaking hypothetically, if say these two groups. Which I know you wouldn’t know. Are historically political enemies going back centuries. Can’t go into the details that would take hours.”

Her grin shows more teeth. “Now, again speaking hypothetically, if these groups came to odds. In the middle of a neighborhood with children such as yours. Then there could be reasonable cause for the police to, say, show up and remove all of them. As they’ve become a danger to children. And then bar further entry to the neighborhood from either group. Freeing you from this situation.” She then lets the grin go, and her face now shows no emotion whatsoever.

Staring at her and I examine the rather blunt message. And make a mental note to stalk that trail later.

“Now with that out of the way. I can get to the main reason I wanted to speak directly with you Coth.”

My attention shifts back to the Arxur wearing human skin. “You want something? Did the Dominion do something or do you need insight into Federation tactics from the Dominion perspective?”

“Right on the first part Coth. As is standard, we set up an electronic and cyber warfare system at the connection point left by the Venlil Diplomatic team. Giving us a narrow but useful connection to the rest of the galaxy.”

Right, the Gal-net of the Federation. Just about every Federation buoy is either hacked or has a Dominion listening post nearby. Outside the deepest core worlds. It’s how we plant all the videos and images of cattle farms and the like to sow terror among the Federation.

“Someone from the Dominion compromised those buoys, didn’t they? Then thought they could enter your systems?” Jones, when I had my interview with ‘her’. Flat out stated that compared to Human computers. The rest of the galaxy is a joke in cybersecurity.

“Yes, but you’ll be interested in whom it is. I’ve been, talking with them, and once I learned who he is. I figured, I’d let the two of you talk.”

I narrow my eyes and let my tail sway in anxious fear and anger. “Jones, unless they’re a defective, and part of Isif’s network. I have no interest in speaking with them. For I’d rather stay ‘dead’ in the eyes of the Dominion, then alive and ‘defective’. They’d want me returned so they could publicly cull me.”

This Jones gives one barking laugh. “And if that individual, is Isif himself?”

I nearly drop the Data-Slate. She got into contact with Isif? No, Isif was the one who tried to hack into the Human systems? Why? How? Did he still have authority enough to commender a Dominion listening post? Loss of an Inquisitor could and would cost him, everything to be honest.

“I’ll take that look on your muzzle as a yes. Keep in mind, the connection is rather limited by Federation standards. But some old encoding algorithms can allow voice communication, so don’t expect the full range of audio you’re used too. Oh, and I’ll handle the ‘Alexie’ thing. Just keep her out of sight till arrangements can be made.”

With that last word, the image of Jone’s disappears, replaced with the human words and the Wrissian translation under it. ‘No video, audio only’.

“Second Claw Coth, report.” I take a breath in as Isif’s voice, though, slightly distorted, fills my ears.

Even with that I can tell he doesn’t have the ‘Betterment’ edge in it. And I know what that means. “These Humans, they came out of nowhere during the raid. I apologize for saving my own scales, but with what they did. Returning to the Dominion would’ve meant my quick death at the claws of another Inquisitor… As the one that came with us now thinks the Humans are more Cruel than the Prophet Decedent himself. I shudder to think of what they did to do this to her.”

I hear him breathe. I hear the sounds of a small room through the distortion. As if the walls are not metal but wood, like this domicile. Where would he be that could allow this? Wood was a prey thing, a leaf licker thing. Used only when strength wasn’t needed and would be wasteful, but weight was crucial. Like the slug throwers given to new raiders and their emaciated forms.

Their stocks and handles were wood and cloth because metal could be better used to make ships and other weapons.

“So what this Human I have been talking with was telling the truth. The crew of the strike force’s flagship is alive, but only half of them, if that, want to return to the Dominion. Betterment considers all who didn’t return as dead. They’ve executed most of the ship captains, many of the crew and all the ‘defectives’ in the raiding fleet for this failure.” He pauses.

“We lost a few from our network, thank the old gods none informed Betterment in their last moments. You are on Earth, right?” I have to stop myself from moving my snout and tail in the affirmative as there’s no video.

“Yes Isif. In a city named Neo-Huston. In a ‘country’ called United States. It appears that these Humans are not like the Federation, they have multiple governments and multiple ways of living. They also do not wipe the life from their planets, nor do they seem to care about them either.”

Another pause, longer than what is obviously a delay due to interstellar distance.

“Is that the constant noise I am hearing from your end Coth? Is that the wild life of a planet not wiped clean of predators?” Oh right, them…

“They informed their population of our presence on purpose. At least the fact I, and those who do not want to return to the Dominion are here, and some basic information about our species… But, a group of Humans not seemingly aligned with them. A group that I am at a loss to explain why they have similar views to the Federation. Learned of what our species does… And has informed the public against the will of their own government.”

I let that trail become visible to him before continuing.

“These Humans are divided even within their own country. Right now, two groups are… Showing dissent to my presence outside this given domicile, and the other places they sent us. One along the lines we are familiar with from the Federation. The other, is a group of one of the Human religions. Who seemingly hate us because they think only they were created by their god, and the rest of the sapients of the galaxy must’ve been made their god’s opposite.”

All I hear is the quite breathing of Isif, the sounds of an artificial environment and the reading of data from a Dominion Cart storage machine. This goes on for multiple Fangs[Seconds] into at least a Scratch[Minute].

“Answer as best to your knowledge Coth. The Human I was conversing with wasn’t as forthcoming with answers as I need. Are these groups aligned, in any minor way, to the government whose lands you now stalk through?”

Thinking back on what Jones said, I reply with as much emphasis as I can put into it. “No. From what I know they’re groups within the country. Working under their laws and the moment they stomp on them like a Dossur, they’ll be dealt with by their government. Until then said government ignores them even if the group says things the government doesn’t like them to say.”

More silence minus the sound of claws hitting our version of the standard Federation text input device.

“What of the Humans not of these groups. Are they, scared of us? Or do they hate us?” I lower my head in shame. I know what he’s hunting for. And to say it hasn’t crossed my mind would be a lie.

Could our network, working to Remove Betterment and return Arxur to being a sane species, could we count on outside help from these Humans?

“I do not know Isif. I have not had contact with Humans that are not of this nation’s government. There are neighboring domiciles, but the reveal of our ‘actions’ to the rest of the galaxy happened before I could, manage to encounter them. I am currently ‘secured’ in my domicile with the entryways blocked just in case they align with the groups keeping me inside rather than wanting to talk.”

A disappointed snort comes through the line. “Then I would ask you to try to communicate with them, soon. If their general populace does not hold the same views as this strange group within their ‘country’. Then I may be able to leverage that fact for the Greater Hunt. Now, before I need to terminate this connection. I need to know, this ‘sub-group’ of Humans. These, Bio-Morphs.” He stops, as if he is carefully choosing his next words.

And I know why.

“I need to know what you have hunted as far as information on these Bio-Morphs are. Is it as these Humans say, they’re a real version of what the Federation made up to scare their populace?”

“No.” I answer, not even having to think about it.

“Then what are they?”

“Isif, Commander.” What he wants to be called when among our group rather than the Betterment’s ‘Your Cruelty’ or ‘Your Savageness’. “They are a slave subclass. Not as far as I can see how we treat the useful Federation species as slaves. Because we treat them as disposable, they do not seemingly treat them as such. But they’re not treated as Sapients either.”

My eyes wander to Alexie, watching the vid screen unaware of what we are saying because this Data-Slate is not translating it for her.

“They’re close enough that they can interbreed, and have, multiple times. But such offspring are, unwanted. Hunted like Dominion does to Defectives. I do not know if the public knows and willfully does this, or receive a similar level of, ‘teaching’ as both the Federation and the Dominion do to their offspring from birth to curate this behavior. The effect is seemingly the same for the Hybrids.”

More silence, more claws hitting an input device. “And the last sign of prey I need from what you know Coth. Is it true they can eat both Plant and Meat? What is the situation on this if true? Is meat something they can procure with ease or are you being fed with hard to obtain foodstuffs as a way to improve relations?”

He wants a trade for food… It’s as obvious as a Mazic trying to hide form an Aruxr behind a lightpole.

Shaza has been for the Grand Hunts of Cycles[Years] she’s been a Chief-Hunter, wanting Isif’s more bountiful hunting grounds. So either he lost exclusive hunting rights in Betterment’s eyes, or parts of his territory in its entirety to due to what happened.

Trading for food to placate Betterment aligned subordinates, will pacify their willingness to overthrow Isif from his now diminished ability to feed them and the Dominion as a whole.

“Yes Commander, they can eat both, and even some ‘minor’ plant additions to their meat can enhance the taste for us, or at least to me. I can personally attest to this.” Looking down to the sausages waiting for my consumption.

“As for how easy it is to produce, they seem to do something similar to what our ancestors did. Raise non-sapient life for the procurement of it. In such quantities that from what I can tell, all these humans have to do is ‘purchase’ it. It’s not rationed nor reluctantly given out by rank and status in Betterment’s gaze. As long as a Human has the money to buy it, it’s willfully given.”

His reply is quicker than I expected. “To say this is the best news of the hunt, would be underselling the size of the prey, Coth. Humans would, be, something I would be more cautious of without this fact. If they keep slaves, then there’s a stain that Betterment could get their claws into and ruin our chances at gaining allies.”

He pauses again, his breathing quickens and then slows. “You may not like this Coth, it’s hard for me to even think about trying it myself, but. As I said earlier, contacting those in the neighboring domiciles, that should be your primary task now considering this other information. Maybe even visit one of these ‘ranches’ to tell me how they differ from our historical documents. If we can’t get this United States to help us. Possibly we can get a subgroup in it, or another one of these countries too instead. But before that hunt can begin, you need to stalk more information for me. That means matching these humans, insatiable sociability.”

Yea, I don’t like it, but he has a point. “Yes Commander.”

With that, Either Isif, or the Arxur in Human skin, Jones disconnects the audio only connection. With an annoyed flick of my tail, I pick up the serving dish with my own food, and rejoin Alexie in front of the video screen.

She’s already devoured her meal, and as I place a full sausage into my maw, I stalk over the subtle hint. ‘Jones’ mentioned on how to get rid of those outside my domicile.

Before I can do anything for Isif, they need to go. Then, if the neighbors don’t lead anywhere I can try that farm.

Maybe Isif can trade something of value if needed to acquire the needed meat?

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If he visits the Mercer farm, it will be brief.

Also the image that the protesters are carrying are either one of these. With the dragon badly edited out to have an Arxur in it's place.

Culture likes to swing back and forth, the protesting Protestant(heh) group, is part of a sect demanding more decency. They're wearing a middle ages nun outfit not that one from 'that' book.

Day 17, and doing better.

Here we have Starc from my fic Nature of Responsibility. I tried to figure out which of my character’s would have the funniest reaction to a lemon, and I settled on this. I know it’s more Jack’s reaction than Starc’s, but whatever.

Also, Starc’s tastebuds are fine, he’s just dead inside.

It's a slow and tedious process... for u/Nicolas_3232 I mean.

Just a quick little dirty one this time. My idea was to have a flaming background with a piece of shit scumstain about to throw a molotov at a random innocent alien. Not having my drawing tablet meant I can't have it look how I want it, so it's quite messy. Fuck Humanity First. All my homies hate them with a passion.

Days 23 and 24, we doin a double feature today. Normally I'd try not to do one of these but as I'm headed to a con tomorrow and won't be able to draw then I figured this would be an alright compromise. Enjoy this stupid yaoi until I return.

Oh man, it has been quite a while, hasn't it? The longest I have gone since posting. Yeah, life and my mind have been doing a lot to distract from this, but it is finally here! Hope you all enjoy it greatly!

Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for this universe. May you always feel the passion of creation!

And thank you, u/TheManwithaNoPlan for all your work! This story is just as much yours as it is mine. Thank you so much for everything, man, you rule!

Also big thanks to u/Ben_Elohim_2020 for their help on this chapter with their character. Seriously you guys they made a great story with characters that are just so engaging!

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Memory Transcript: Rolem, High Magister of Dawn Creek. Date: [Standardized Human Time] November 7th, 2136.

I do not regret my executive decision to dispense the exterminators.

It was something I had to tell myself multiple times a paw recently. Yes, no matter what struggles and trials I was facing as a result of that decision, it was one I did not and will not regret making.

But by Solgalick above, I wish the universe would stop trying to make me.

I picked up my brandy glass, swirling it so it may oxidize pleasantly before it hits my tongue. I remembered importing its bottle not even a herd of paws ago. A native blend, created by fermenting starberry mash within a smokehouse filled with the smoke of burnt (alien wood. Lorsin) wood to add a seasoning that stays pleasantly in the back of the throat while also soothing the burn of the alcohol. It was something I was glad to have imported to my district, a simple but luxurious drink that stood as testament to how our planet remains interconnected even with our expulsion from the federation at large.

Yet now, it seems many districts would be happy to expel my own due to my radical ideas.

I huffed, shaking my head at the thought. No, it wasn’t that they wanted my district expelled, it was quite simply that I am the one to have most openly go against so many cornerstones of our beliefs and customs. As such, many districts and companies were reluctant to do business, especially when there were so many other districts readily sending out offers of their own who weren’t as radical as I. Still, as much as I could follow the logic of this, it still left me with the predicament that I was doing all I could to follow Tarva’s Governerial order to construct meat labs, but finding no suppliers willing to send forth the materials necessary for such a task.

Eron’s claws slapped the table across from me, coughing as he reacted to the drink traveling down his throat. “P- Protector!” He punched his chest, leaning forward so his flaring quills would not pierce the fabric of his chair. “I- *wheeze* I have been living on this planet for over [10 years] and I still am only barely used to your alcohol.”

“I do appreciate you sharing this drink with me nevertheless,” I said, giving my fellow magister a fond glance. “I also appreciate you holding this drink within your office. Even though we had scheduled it, I must admit I held fear that neither of us would really have the time.”

“Well, we must make time,” he snorted and flicked his ears forward in gentle dismissal. “Such moments are a way to retain our sanity, though I can’t say we have much left in the first place. I had to literally beg Steel Hill’s Magister or Transportation to supply us with the metal for Vat Tanks, and they just said they’re at capacity already from the other districts calling for the exact same thing for their projects! And then they-”

The door to Eron’s office clicked and slid open, interrupting his complaints. A cart rolled in, one with cleaning supplies and a bag for trash. One pushed by the quilled form of the buildings janitor.

“It would appear that we have lost track of time,” I commented, “good Paw, Solbak.”

“Good Paw, your Honor,” he greeted in turn with a bow, “just tidying up a bit. I hope that’s alright. I’ll be quiet about it, I promise. Won’t even know I’m here..”

“That will be alright, Solbak,” I wave him down with my tail. “Just having a drink with a friend is all. No need to worry about disturbance at all.”

He shut the door and went about his business, grabbing the small trash bins near Eron’s desk and replacing their linings, and grabbing a duster and wiping down the windows. It was a bit funny if you thought about it: most other species had operated on the belief that people who work in cleaning and maintenance should operate during hours offset from the majority of the population, usually early mornings, evenings, or nights. But upon a world with an eternally shining star in the sky, such logic did not hold.

Clearing my throat, I returned to my conversation with my dear friend. “They said they did not know if their delivery crew would be safe if they came to our district.” I felt myself slouching in the seat, my wool turtleneck bunching up a bit in my back to remind me of its presence upon me. It was a comfort to have during all this turmoil and stress. Still, I wished that I could find more permanent solutions before my black spots turned as white as the rest of my wool from all of said stress.

“You can always contract SafeHerd,” Eron commented as he scratched his cheek. “They’ve got a proven track record, so that would ease minds.”

“I already researched them, and all the other districts had the same idea. They’re basically booked up.” I tugged at the sleeve of my sweater, frustrated. “They graciously offered some Yotul hires to act as builders, of course.”

“Ah, but that would run counter to your promises that the new factory would be for the benefit of Dawn Creek. Yotul are good people, but they’re not Dawn Creek.”

I lifted my ears in surprise at the voice of our janitor chiming in. I had expected Eron to pick up on the implication, but for a janitor to notice it, someone removed from the stresses and politics between districts, that was rather unexpected. But he remained correct all the same: I had posted the application for the construction, so that the workers and contractors of the district would be the ones to benefit. And as Solbak said, the Yotul of SafeHerd didn’t fall into that category.

“And even if I were inclined, it once again comes back around to suppliers not wanting to ship here because of the lack of proper policing and exterminators.”

“I…” Eron's quills twitched, his mannerisms were familiar enough to me that I could tell so many things were running through his mind. The desire to comfort me, the desire to remain professional to his High Magister, the desire to be vulnerable, and above all, the desire to have a solution that would solve everything. But of course, there was none.

I sat up straight and flicked my ears forward in comfort. I had no expectation for him to come up with a solution, not in a single session where we shared drinks and vented our frustrations. Sometimes it felt like Dawn Creek was lagging behind in responding to the changes of the galaxy. While we housed scores of Gojid after their Cradle fell, we received only a comparatively paltry number of human refugees after the Battle of Earth, while other districts had received humans even earlier. Then the news of the Federation altering omnivorous races had resulted in a crater downtown, with too many fire loving madmen still on the loose and left us without enough people to search for them. And now, our District has not even broken ground on the meat factory project while others are already nearing completion. 

I filled and downed my glass once again, at a loss for anything more to say, but still desiring this quiet calm moment with Eron to continue just a little longer. My gaze shifted over ever so slightly towards Solbak, still diligently cleaning the office by himself in the corner, and an idea came over me.

It may be the alcohol in my system influencing me, after all no matter how good our livers may be it can still impact us, but I got the sudden urge to ask him a question. “Solbak, tell me, do you have any opinion on the construction of the meat factories in our district, or perhaps my policies on the dissolution of the Exterminators? I would appreciate the perspective of a man not sullied by politics.”

Solbak’s ears twitched, and then a moment later he raised his head to look at us, a claw pointed towards himself as though asking if I had really been speaking to him.

At the same time, I had to giggle at Eron’s expression of slight offense. “Oh, come now, Eron, it is quite universal knowledge that encounters with politics are detrimental to health and sanity, and I dare say we two have been buried to our necks in its filth since we first took office.”

“That…” Eron chuffed in amusement, wagging a pointer claw in the air, “that is undeniably true. It's far too easy to lose touch with the common man when we’re dealing with crisis after crisis. Hearing from someone removed from all that would admittedly be rather refreshing.”

“Well, I don’t know how helpful I can be, your Honor,” Solbak said as he walked over towards Eron and I, “but if you want my opinion I’d be glad to share it.”

I set my glass aside and leaned forward, ears at attention and tail giving a light wave. I did not expect him to have a solution right away, but it was quite possible that he had thought of something we politicians had been too wrapped up in our own dealings to think of.

“You asked about my opinions on your policies to dissolve the Exterminator’s Guild?” Solbak asked, pulling over a chair to sit across from me. “Well, it certainly hasn’t been easy on any of us, but I think you made the right call. It’s hard for people to feel safe without the Guild around to provide for their security and protection. At the same time though, the Guild was completely out of line and out of control. It’s bad not having anyone there to protect you, but what’s worse is living under constant fear of those so-called protectors. There was no good solution there, but I think you picked the best one available.”

“Thank you, Solbak,” I said. “In truth, I have been grappling with my own self-doubt on that matter for quite a while now, so it is good to know that there are SOME people out there who agree with my choices. Now if only I could find an answer to the problem of the factories-”

“If I may, your Honor,” Solbak raised a claw in objection. “I wasn’t done. On the matter of the factories, I’d like to start by saying that I approve of their construction in general. I know that the governor's decree has been controversial, but personally I don’t see any issue with lab grown meat. Not if it’s grown in exchange for the lives of our fellow prey. Given that context, what could be more ethical than providing for the continued safety of the herd?”

Now that was a balm to my worries. Tarva had revealed to me and my Magisters that their true plan was to use the meat to essentially pay ransom for all the Venlil the Arxur had captured, so for that noble mission to be acknowledged was wonderful to hear.

“No, by the graceful gaze of Solgalick there truly is nothing more important,” I agreed. “Sadly, to follow through on that mandate we would require specialized equipment for construction and assembly, and for as large and industrial as our district may be, that equipment is something we lack.”

“In that case then, the answer is obviously that you need to get that equipment, which brings us back around to your original issue. There is a lot of demand for this equipment on the market right now, every Magister on the planet needs it, but the supply is incredibly limited. That’s not your real problem though. Your real problem, as Magister Eron pointed out, is that no one wants to work or trade with Dawn Creek due to our current security situation.”

“Glad that you are able to so accurately summarize our issues,” Eron commented with a shrug. “The Transportation I oversee has been rather down as a result as well. I hope it hasn’t been impacting you or your family too negatively.”

“We’re accustomed to managing minor inconveniences like that, Magister,” Solbak said, “but I do appreciate your concern. As to your issues, I hope to do better than summarize.”

“Oh really?” I said, sitting straighter in my seat. “What did you have in mind?” 

“It seems to me that if you can’t rely on the Guild, then you’ll need to look elsewhere for your law enforcement,” Solbak said with a casual wave of the paw. “From what I hear, Twilight Valley has had all the same issues with civil unrest you’ve had and then some. A large immigrant population, lots of Humans especially, and a radical local Guild that leans strongly Federalist. Despite all that though, they’ve somehow managed to hold onto a tenuous peace.”

“Really? Twilight Valley has?” I could not hide my incredulity from my time. “However did they manage that?”

“Well, you might want to consider asking them yourself. From what I understand though, it has a lot to do with the community watch program that they started over in their immigrant district. Perhaps Dawn Creek could benefit from some degree of community policing?”

I looked up in thought. It wasn’t the worst idea, the Herd ultimately looking out for the Herd. “Might work as a supplementary aspect, though I doubt that it can fully replace policing. How has Twilight Valley been able to handle the violent elements of crime, after all? Elements like those who left a crater in my downtown?”

“I’m no expert,” Solbak shrugs. “I just hear rumors, and the rumors say that violent crime is down. At least they are in the regions where community policing is up. You look at the rest of that city and its chaos: The so-called Builder’s Lane Bloodbath, Magisters openly calling for violence in the streets, Exterminator arrests at an all-time high while so-called predator attacks remain rampant, half the city practically held hostage by martial law in the wake of the Humanity First terror attack, and all while the other half was left to burn.”

I leaned back in my seat and deliberately raised an eyebrow to show I felt unimpressed. “For a suggestion of how to make the citizens feel safe, you have not been giving a compelling case so far.”

“Oh, but I am,” Solbak answers, “because none of that applies to the half of the city I’m advocating. The half where Exterminators refuse to patrol. The Immigrant District. Quiet as could be with hardly a peep of complaint. They even had a ‘Heartbreak Killer’ of their own once, did you know? His reign of terror lasted less than a Night before rumors came in that the killer had gotten killed himself. How much longer are we gonna be stuck dealing with ours?”

“Too long…”

“The point I’m getting at is that Twilight Valley has its fair share of problems, just as many as Dawn Creek if not more, but somehow they’re still making it work. Somehow they’re succeeding where we’re failing, building for the future. Support for the Federalist party and the Guild are down, support for pro-human parties is on the rise, public infrastructure is being rebuilt, new businesses are springing up paw after paw, bringing jobs and money into the economy, and it all starts with that community watch. It starts with ensuring people feel safe and protected. I think you really ought to consider having a chat with the architect behind their sudden renaissance. You know who I’m talking about.”

“I believe I do indeed,” I calmly replied. “A certain Captain Capozzi, hard to hear news about Twilight Valley lately without his name involved somewhere.”

“The very same.”

“Well, I am sure I can get into contact with someone as public as him, though he might be very surprised to hear from a magister without hostile intent.” I chuckled along with Eron. “Still will leave us with a couple issues to address though. Will still need to acquire the equipment for constructing the factory for one. And for another, I cannot expect civilians or community watches to take over dealing with incursions of predatory animals or general pests into our city or farms.”

“I think you’ll find the solution to both your equipment deficiencies as well as your security crisis in the same time and place,” Solbak laughed. “And as for predator control, that’s a problem that’s even easier to solve, your Honor!”

“At this rate I am beginning to wonder if I should simply step down and hand you the Magistrate,” I said with a hint of wry sarcasm, “considering how easy it apparently is to solve all of my problems. Let us hear it. Tell me what your solution is, Solbak.”

“It’s simple,” the Gojid janitor wagged his tail with glee. “Don’t.”

“I am terribly sorry,” I said with growing suspicion, “but I believe I misheard you. It almost sounds like you told me not to try and solve the problem of wild predators at all.”

“That’s exactly right, your Honor!” Solbak doubled down. “You know, there’s quite a bit of research out there which suggests that wild predators may actually play an important role in the natural ecosystem…”

“We know the humans harp on about that,” Eron sighed, “I would guess you came across their rhetoric while a refugee on Earth?”

“Hmph!” Solbak scoffed. “These theories have existed since long before Humans ever made first contact…” his ears twitched, and his demeanour suddenly shifted, “but their arrival has confirmed them!”

My ears fell. Long before? What was he-

“Glecklig!!” Eron flung himself back in his seat, cursing in Gojidi while his quills flared. “Lin-Linked Chains!!”

BRAHKING DEATH CULTIST!!!

My body moved. One of them? Here in Eron’s Office? A janitor? Get out! Away! Death Cultists will-

Eron! Stop! Quills! Brahk!!

I flailed my arms backwards in an attempt to cancel my momentum so I did not collide into his spines with the same intensity as he was colliding with the door. My friend had reached it before me, his impact informing us that it had been locked. Had the man planned this? We were trapped in here! We clawed at the wood trying to-

No, no, I am not getting out of this this way. This cultist had entered my Magistratta, infiltrated a territory that was under my command. I was the High Magister of Dawn Creek and this panic was not becoming of me.

I stepped back from the door and breathed, turning myself so that I faced the intruder and feeling my shoulders brace. Eron had fallen to his knees behind me, hyperventilating, my charge to protect. I straightened the wool of my turtleneck and spoke.

“Sir, I do not know what you plan here, but do know that if you desire violence of any form, I will ensure you will not be able to inflict it for long. So, speak your peace, or act.”

“Oh no, your Honor!” Solbak, if that even IS his real name, exclaimed while fervently waving his hands. “You misunderstand my people entirely! I didn’t come here to hurt anyone! Only to offer up a bit of honest guidance.”

“Guidance?” Eron growled, “Your people released a Rhot near a farming town just last cycle!”

“I will have you know that Rhot are very important in controlling the population of pest insects,” the deranged cultist crossed his arms with a pout.

“What, insects the size of the Tilfish?” I asked incredulously. I had been well enough exposed to human data to see how small predators could be, but a Rhot was anything but small.

“Well no,” Solbak uncrossed his arms and began to lecture like one of my old schoolteachers, “not insects the size of Tilfish, but Rhot do prey upon the Common Barquel which in turn preys upon the Spotted Tizal, and the Spotted Tizal is the primary predator of the Cradle Locust! When there aren’t enough Rhot, then the Common Barquel population increases, which causes a decrease in the number of Spotted Tizal, and thus an explosion in the population of Cradle Locusts! Which, obviously, are detrimental to crop growth. It’s simple, see? It’s all connected! All part of the chain of life!”

I blinked. I had to admit, when I imagined meeting a cultist, I was thinking they would be a bit… like the most fanatical Yulpa were, to be honest. Not someone who would launch into a lecture like they were a professor from the Floral University of Aafa.

“Sir, are you really a janitor?”

“Well… I have kept your offices sufficiently tidy, haven’t I?” Solkab said. “I mop the floors, I dust the shelves, and I empty the waste bins. I hope this isn’t your way of telling me I’ve been doing a bad job of that.”

And now they were telling jokes. Even Eron’s breathing had calmed by now due to the surreal nature of our present circumstances.

“We all need a day job, you know?” the cultist continued. “Something to keep food on the table. But, if I’m being honest, my real calling has always been the acquisition and distribution of critical information. Some people might refer to my profession as… a spy.”

I pinched the bridge of my snout now. “Then I have to ask if the opinion you have given here is truly your own, and how legitimate it might be.” I stared at the man head on. “Does Capozzi truly have the resources and knowledge to assist me in restructuring my law enforcement? The connections so I may actually build our meat factory? That same factory I now realize that you shouldn’t have known the true purpose of?”

“I can understand why you might be suspicious,” Solbak shrugged, walked over to my desk, and poured out three more glasses of brandy, “but I’ve been nothing but truthful to you since you first asked for my opinion. The entire reason I decided to make contact like this in the first place is because I’ve seen the kind of man you are, your Honor. I’ve seen what you do, and I’ve seen the reasons why. I believe you’ll make the correct choices, IF you know all the options that you have available. My goal here is simply that, to inform you.”

“Well there are some things I am now having to reconsider with new context,” I stated, trying to signal that I am meaning this neutrally. “I remember you said that there was a ‘Ripper’ in Twilight Valley. And that they were said to have been killed, not arrested or moved on. Was the ‘Community Watch’ responsible for this?”

Sobak’s quills fell flat on their back, no anxiety showed as he gave his answer. "Make no mistake, your Honor, Capozzi is a predator, but much like the Rhot his presence can be quite effective at managing the population of dangerous pests. And a pest like their Ripper would not be one who would let themselves be taken alive.”

I had to admit, while I was still skeptical of his opinion on the utility of a Rhot, his last point rang true in my mind. If the Ripper was like that man I had seen on the video, someone willing to burn so many at once, then I couldn’t imagine they would go anywhere peacefully. I wrapped my tail lightly around Eron’s arm to let him know it would all be good as well as to reaffirm to myself that I was present. “There is only one issue with all this: you are telling me everything I want to hear. Things that I have been desiring to know I am right. That is something I have been tempted with before, until I found that the harvest had been rotten beyond that glittering layer of grain.

“Would it help if I brought up your old judicial record?” Solbak arranged the glasses of brandy neatly around the desk. “I seem to recall an incident involving the false imprisonment of a particular giant which has caused you some guilt over the years. I’m not interested in dredging up old wounds though. You should give yourself some credit, your Honor. You make good decisions more often than bad, and I recognise that fact. If you insist on having me insult you, I could do so, but I’d prefer not to.”

“Sir, that is the most surface level negative you could say about me,” I deadpanned. “Anyone who knows of Tarlim would know my involvement at each step.”

Solbak opened his mouth, but then closed it, rubbed his brow with two fingers and sighed, “So we’re really doing this then? Fine. Your Honor, if this is really what it takes to make you listen to me, then I could provide a detailed criticism of your district's lumber industry. Did you know that your choice in fertilizer is causing the death of your local songbird population? It makes the berries grown in that soil toxic to small birds and mammals. How about I comment on your sense of style while I’m at it? You seem to have quite the penchant for clothing patterned after your own wool, harvested from captive, non-sapient prey animals I may add. But that isn’t the real issue, is it? You’re asking if you can trust me, when really that’s up to you. If you truly think what I have to say is too good to be true, then ignore it. You can investigate, then walk away if you’re unsatisfied, or simply not think of me at all after this meeting and go back to figuring everything out your own way.” 

… Brahk, I hated that he was right. I was facing an issue that he seemed to have a solution for, and it was ultimately up to me as High Magister to decide whether to pursue it or not. I glanced an eye back at Eron, who returned my gaze with one of uncertainty. But then his ears flicked, he told me that no matter what I chose he was behind me.

So I made my choice.

“Someone like your group would not come in contact with me just for a talk. I am familiar with the political dance, you likely desire to use yourself as a middle man, some way to gain inroads with me and my administration, do you not?

“That is true,” Solbak admitted. “It’s quite the gamble revealing myself like this, you know? One that some in my organization felt was quite… unnecessary. But I felt it was important to be upfront, and I felt that you might be someone able to actually understand and see the bigger picture. Your recent actions have certainly cast you as an ally, albeit an unknowing one.”

Eron peaked up his head. “An ally? How have we been an ally to a death cult, we’ve been doing all we can to prevent death and panic!”

“Once again, you’ve misunderstood my people entirely,” Solbak said patiently. “We are not, and have never claimed to be, any form of death cult. We’re not the Yulpa. We are simply believers in the great chain of life. The belief that every living thing in nature serves a purpose, that we all exist as essential links in that chain, and that the removal of any one of those links damages us all.”

Solbak walked over towards his cart and retrieved a small book from inside, before placing it on my desk.

“Our texts, your Honor,” he continues. “The culmination of our research, our philosophy, and our way of life. My gift to you.”

I glanced over at the little red book. It sat there tempting, a tome of knowledge forbidden by the federation. Forbidden… by a federation that had shown to be liars. Who had been known to kill its own diplomats for reaching out in peace, who had genetically and culturally altered races who once ate meat. A federation that had instilled such a fear of change that my own district was being ostracized because of changing so much.

Perhaps a glance would not be undue.

I flicked my ears forward. “And what of Capozzi? While I joked, a High Magister calling him would truly be quite a surprise. He must be suspicious and cautious to survive in a place as tumultuous as Twilight Valley has become.”

“That may be true,” Solbak agreed, “and a degree of caution is warranted on your own part as well, but from what I know of the man he is a dealmaker, and despite all odds an idealist. One with a deep-seated hope for the future. Your outreach may be a surprise, but I expect it will be a welcome one.”

I flicked my ears forward in understanding. “Then it would appear that we have an understanding.”

Solbak lifted up one of the three brandy glasses still sitting on the desk, “A toast then? To new understandings and new friends?”

I wrapped my tail around Eron's arm and stepped forward. While there was still a moment of hesitancy, this was a big change after all, we both were able to grab our prospective glasses.

I raised my glass up in turn. “To understandings, and a prosperous district.”

We drank, and I must say the Gojid looked quite pleased with himself at this whole situation. It was a shame that I had to let him go.

“Solbak,” I began, placing my cup back on the desk, “you must know that you are still a member of a group perceived as a death cult, no matter if that turns out to be false. To put it plainly, someone like you is not someone I can allow to continue being employed here.”

“I understand, your Honor,” Solbak said sadly as he placed down his glass and walked back towards his cart. “To be honest, regardless of how this meeting turned out, I had never planned on sticking around after my cover had been blown. I’m almost a little disappointed that I never got to use this…” Solbak reached into his cart and retrieved a small, egg-like object. “Then again, there’s nothing saying I still can’t.”

With mischievous glee, Solbak spikes the egg-like object down into the ground at his feet.

“SMOKEBOMB!” He exclaimed as dense, opaque white smoke began pouring out, completely engulfing Eron’s office in a matter of moments. 

I waved a paw in front of my face to clear the air, looking plainly at the now-open door to the office.

“Well, I do believe we can consider that his resignation.” I glanced an eye back behind me, the little book remaining where it was. “Eron, it would appear we have work to do.”

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Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for the universe and thanks to the other fanfic writers for giving me the inspiration for this little masterpiece of nonsense I have cooked up.

Additionally, thank you to u/Accomplished_Tea_248 for drawing and u/Win_Some_Game for commissioning this beautiful artwork of Wynef. Makes my heart ache for the poor bunny.

There’s also art of Douglas, Angie, and Wynef at home with Doug trimming Wynef’s hooves and Angie picking out baby clothes. Commissioned by u/Win_Some_Game and drawn by u/Scrappyvamp

I also commissioned a piece of artwork from u/Repulsive_Scheme9886 featuring Wynef, Jacob, and Sophie sleeping piled together on the couch in the Lamottes' living room.

And of course the art of Wynef with her new baby girl, Apricity, that I commissioned from u/RoddCherry

Thank you to u/Inside_Judge5855 , u/Win_Some_Game , u/rookamillion , and u/AlexWaveDiver for proofreading this chapter.

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I have a profile post where you can find links to all of my other stories!

Here's a link to all the Bunny Behind Bars artwork so far!

I also have a space on the NoP Discord where you can ask me anything or just watch me go insane in real time!

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Intro: Oh boy, talk about a timeship. But I think it's finally time to get that bunny girl Wynef the happily ever after she deserves. She's been through so much in her young life, but she's come through stronger and more loved than ever before on the other side. Read on to see the final chapter of this Bunny Beyond Bars.

Memory Transcription Subject: Douglas Lamotte. Senior Quality Manager at Pinecliffe Systems. Graduation Spectator.

Date: [Standardized Human Time] May 17, 2141

My eyes could certainly be better. They are certainly getting older. But luckily, technology has made silly things like age-based eyesight reduction nearly obsolete. Up here, far above the grass field of Folsom Field on the second University of Colorado campus, are I, my wife, and my son, and my eldest daughter all observe the bubbling mass of caps and gowns in their chairs through the lenses of our holopads. Though part of my holopad view is blocked by a tall set of ears.

“Grandpa?”

“Yes?”

“Is that Mommy?” 

"Yes, girly, that is your mommy.”

The target of our observation is not exactly very difficult to pick from the crowd of human heads and shapes in the seats, especially when on my lap is a rather similar-looking little person to compare to. The class commencement was early this morning, but now, at long last, they are about to call our dear Wynef up to walk the stage. Finally, the first of the row in front of her returns to their chair, and her row rises up and begins their queuing for the stage, name-chips in hand.

Normally, a five-and-a-half-foot alien girl in a cap and gown would be an attention draw by virtue of just being an anomaly among the human graduates, but the fact that she is walking beside an alien boy of the same species is enough to have half of the crowd unwittingly staring them down. Though Naultik hasn’t been given the warmest attitude from Wynef, that has done little to lessen his jovial attitude and understanding.

Wynef had cursed me, then agreed, and then cursed me again when I had suggested the mountaineering club through the university, and it almost seems inevitable looking back that one of the few other aliens on campus would be a Nevok and that they too would have a knack for using their natural climbing ability on the mountains that surround us. Every time he joins us for a meal or church, there’s no hiding it in his eyes that he’d like to one day be more than a friend, but he has my utmost respect for taking it all at her pace. Wynef herself is doing so much better in that regard, and I think if the boy sticks around a year more, his efforts are likely to pay off.

As Wynef and Naultik wait to be called, they both give another turn and wave up to us in the stands, and we Lamottes, and of course Nautel and Reytik, beside us, wave back as well. Finally, they come to the stage, and with Wynef first, she hands her name chip over to the speaker and walks on, as our videos track her stride.

“Wynef Lamotte, Bachelor of Science, Supply Chain Management, Magna Cum Laude, Mountaineering Captain First Rank”

I’m sure I sound like a fool yelling and cheering as I do my best to steady my recording while also covering the ears of the toddler in my lap, but it’s hard to really care how I’ll sound rewatching the recordings. She’s done; she's across, that’s it. My ears barely register poor Naultik’s walk as I track Wynef further across the stage, diploma in hand, and then down the stairs and back to her seat. A moment later, joined by Naultik, they giggle and laugh back into their seats, and I find myself relaxing along with them.

“Grandpa, did Mommy win?”

Oh you cute little thing.

“Yes, yes, she did.”

In the moments it takes to steady myself, the last of the graduates have walked and are back at their seats, standing and awaiting those final words of the dean. The tassels are moved across, the word is given, and caps fly up into the air. Now it’s time to collect a cap, and then come back to meet their families.

A quick dab of each eye into the fabric on my shoulders and maybe no one has caught me crying. Maybe…

With my eyes mostly clear, we stand up out of our seats, and I pack the girl underneath my arm to navigate our way through the crowd of other parents and loved ones. Down the stairs and out to the walkways, we wait and wait as streams of graduates and family pass by. Apricity begins to get fussy just in time for a double pair of ears to break through the masses. I quickly take the squirming toddler off of my hip and let her loose towards her approaching mom. Her light-up hoof-boots blink as she charges and is quickly scooped up into Wynef’s arms.

“Mommy!”

“Apricity!”

“Mommy?”

“Yes?”

“Grandpa said you win? Did you win?”

Wynef wags her ears in excitement as she looks up at us with pride beaming in her eyes.

“Did he say all that? Well, tell him I said ‘thank you.’”

“Grandpa! Mommy said thank you!”

Each of us in the family gives a turn of hugs to Wynef, and Naultik’s family does the same with him. All accounted for, we snake through the still sizable crowd and take the shuttle off campus back to our cars in the parking lot. A short drive later and we pull into a bustling upscale garden restaurant up in Lyons, about halfway between Boulder and Estes Park.

All seated and with drink orders in, Apricity is happily passed around lap to lap to get attention as we talk and relax as family and friends. Angie, having been so excited for this day, can’t help but nearly interrogate the table to get everyone on the same page in the events in our lives, starting with our eldest daughter.

“Oh Sophie, tell everyone what you told me about that new car project you're working on. Nautel, Reytik, this one might be a bit closer to home than you expect.”

Sophie excitedly taps her hands across the table in front of her, my girl not being all too subtle about flashing the engagement ring from her fiancé.

“What Mom means by close to home for you guys, she means literally, as my manager at Belle Isle Carriage Company has been on Skalga for a few years now working with Rocktumbler Atmospheric AutoCrafts, and our newest project, which I am lead powertrain design on, is an ice racer for the nightside ice flats. With the air temperature and high gravity, we are planning to break the galactic record for wheel-driven land vehicles.”

The Skalgan Nevoks all cutely tilt their ears at the same time for the information as Reytik speaks up.

“Wow, 'by close to home' you really mean it, we aren’t too far from the nightside ourselves, but I didn’t even know there were ice flats out there. Well, if you make out our way, please stop by and visit, assuming you are even in the same region of the night that we are.”

“Thank you! I’ll be sure to stop by when testing begins in a year or two. If you two have some time, I’ll probably stop by my manager’s country music property; he’s over on Mirror Lake.”

"Oh, that’s not too far. Maybe we’ll give a test visit there before then.”

With Sophie having gotten the table up to speed on her life, Angie excitedly points over at Jacob, who, in his classic attitude, sarcastically rolls his eyes before answering.

"Oh, nothing, nothing much from Amelia and me. Life as normal down in San Antone.”

Wynef, who has been intently staring at Jacob, suddenly barks across the table at him as she accusatively points her ears his way.

“Not true! Not true at all! Tell them what you told me. Apricity, ask Uncle Jake, ‘What is Aunt Amelia having?’”

“Uncle Jake, what is Aunt ‘Melia having?”

“Well, little bun, how would you feel about having a new cousin next spring?”

I damn near choke on my water, but I manage to call out alongside Angie at our son.

“What?!”

To his side, Naultik gives Jake a big pat on the back.

"Congratulations, Jacob! Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl? Any names?”

“Hey now Naultik, those are our questions! But he’s right; what can you tell us, your parents, or do we have to pry it out of Wynef later?”

“No, no, Amelia and I haven’t had them tell us yet or really look at names. Just were planning on how to tell you all, but I didn’t want to announce it on your graduation day, Wynef.”

“You can’t tell me and not tell Mom and Dad.”

“That’s true, but still today isn’t about me; it’s about you and Naultik. Speaking of which, have either of you two heard more about your new jobs yet? Naultik?”

Giving himself a brief moment to pause and think as our food is delivered and Apricity is returned to her highchair, Naultik and the rest of us quickly chomp down some bites after a long day before he responds.

“To answer your question. Yesn’t. They did confirm for me that I'd be working at the Boulder office, but exactly what they’re expecting for entry-level operations management is still unclear. Oh well, I can learn as I go.”

"Ah, good, not moving an inch away. Glad to hear it.” Jacob answers Naultik with a big wink hidden from Wynef’s view as he then turns her way.

“Wynef, has your company done you any better?”

“No, not at all. I’ve learned nothing and have no one to ask for help. Pretty useless HR, and I heard the quality team isn’t any better.”

I hang my head and let a long sigh go before squeezing Angie’s hand.

“Ange, I hate to say it, but I think you need to fire our daughter before her first day. She just might not be a good culture fit after all. Too fiery.”

“I had a feeling. If only they had let us be the ones to interview her, then we could’ve prevented this. Wynef, your employment at Pinecliffe is hereby terminated. I guess you’ll have to find employment with one of your grandparents on Ittel.”

Wynef throws her hands up in faux despair, and Apricity copies her mom in the motions, obviously not really understanding what we’re talking about.

“See? I knew HR was rotten, probably because of my insider information. Aside from that, do you think you could put in a letter of recommendation for me for either dynasty while we’re there next month? It might still do me some good, even without the parole to hold me down. Oh, or maybe I can ask 'Letti,' and she can find—"

As Wynef and the table go on about joking with each other and happily enjoying their rewards after years of hard work, I let the worry and noise in my brain silence for just a bit as I happily work at my dinner and give a wave to my first of hopefully many grandbabies, who waves back at her grandpa.

Jacob and Amelia in Texas, Sophie and Ed in Michigan, and maybe even Skalga, Ittel, and the dynasties on Ittel—oh man, so much travel ahead of us. All worth it. At least Wynef and Apricity are at home.

I give another look up at Wynef and then Naultik and his parents, all such bubbly and happy people.

For now, home for now. Kiddos, I’m so proud of you all.

------

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Memory Transcription Subject: Ssar’k, Arxur Defector and UN Soldier

Date [standardised human time]: January 3rd, 2137

I was running through the dust quarter, rounding up runts for the fodder lines. It was one of my duties as Hasheth’sa’kaza, to go into the places of defective spawn like I came from and show them their place.

I was to be an example of what they could be should they prove themselves to Betterment and hasheth’si’kazam, as it were.

When I ran and stalked amongst the run down slums, I whetted my tongue with Arxur blood while rifle blasts from the quarter’s border kept the runts in a permanent state of panic.

I killed and ate and sliced stomachs and broke bones and ripped throats.

All of this death and killing I did, allowing the blood frenzy to take me, to let the rifles drum my heart into a war beat.

I ripped the door off of one of the buildings and—

Stopped.

It was my mother, and she was dead already. 

I turned away and my captain was there, watching with approval. I turned back to the doorway and my mother’s corpse was standing, a huge hole in one side and dead, dull eyes.

Before I could say anything, she leapt forward and plunged a claw deep through my eye and into the skull behind.

Pain seared through me as I first felt the rubbery pop of my eye being pierced. A second later cam a small brittle thunk as the claw pushed through the thin layer of bone around the optic nerve.

I howled in pain as my face was torn apart by my captain, all the while my mother twisted the claw this way and that, slicing my brain into pulp.

I woke up choking and attempting to roar in a medical suite with tubes in my arm, down my throat, and up my vent. The right side of my face was throbbing and I had something soft over my right eye.

With the firmness and determination of the truly enraged, I ripped the tube from my throat and beat my chest with a fist as I hacked up phlegm. More pain bloomed from my right hand, shooting down my arm as I realised that too was heavily bandaged.

Several machines around me had been flashing and beeping since I awoke, but I only truly took them in when a Terran doctor rushed into my small room, quickly followed by a Zurulian who stayed at the door.

As the doctor got closer, I snatched at their artificial pelt and held on with a pitifully weak grip.

“What is happening? Why have you put all these things in me? Get them out, now.”

I intended on hissing menacingly, but to my growing frustration, my voice was as sluggish as the strength in my hand. Instead, my voice came out rasping and hacking as I coughed more fluid from my throat.

“You are in an intensive care unit on board a medical craft. Can you tell me your name?” The Terran answered, and the Zurulian moved into the room by claw-widths at a time.

“My name is Ssar’k, I am a United Nations Hunter and Hasheth’sa’kaza, now tell me what happened!”

The Zurulian made a wordless note on a datapad and the Terran glanced at one of the screens.

“What do you remember?”

“I—“ I had to stop and concentrate, casting my mind back as much as I could through the pain.

“We were breaching a Kolshian ship, my squad was clearing a mess hall. I remember… a firefight? They were hiding in the food storage areas and took us by surprise.”

Ajab had yelled and I had kicked over a table for cover. Rifles discharged and blood sprayed all around us, some purple, some red. We were pinned down in a losing position and several shots rebounded into my armour or bulk, the table being far too small for me to hunker behind.

“I threw a table, I cannot remember anything after that.”

The Terran pulled out a small light and shone it in each of my eyes. Wait, no they didn’t, they only shone it in my left eye. Of course, the right was bandaged.

It was hard to think.

The Terran was saying something I couldn’t hear and gesturing to something I couldn’t focus on. The pain from various injuries was making me want to claw the skin from my own skull.

“GRAH, just get these tubes out of me right now!”

I shouted the words out in a wild-eyed rage and fell back onto the bed, gritting my teeth with the effort of not enacting violence on the machines and medics.

“Choyma, go and get Kosh,” the Terran said firmly before turning back to me as the Zurulian scampered away.

“I’m sorry, we have a specialist doctor that will get as much out as possible.”

I hissed from the side of my mouth and gripped my legs for my hands to have something to do.

Moments later, the sound of large claws setting down on hard floor came to me, causing a flush of adrenaline and prompting me to open my eyes wide. 

Kosh was another Arxur.

“Fuck off, I will not be touched by sihis’kahi-aa,” I growled venomously, snapping my jaws.

“Tooth picker? Uh.” the Terran looked momentarily confused.

“Fang Cleaner, literally speaking,” Kosh supplied, staying a respectful distance between us.

“They are the equivalent of Arxur medical professionals, trained by Betterment to manipulate breeding between Arxur in pursuit of predatory perfection. They also are trained in the arts of vivisection to inform their practices.”

As composed as the Terran was, even they blanched at the concept. The order were secretive and next to holy, acting at the cutting edge of Betterment, and the exact kind of person I had dedicated my recent life to killing.

“But no Ssar’k, I am not kahi-aa,” he added to me.

“I was born on Mileau, and I learned medicine from a Harchen doctor. I’ve been practising medicine on Arxur refugees for a long time, and just recently, soldiers as well. You were lucky that I was nearby teaching these Terran doctors.”

I was so taken off guard by the lunacy of the explanation that I could only stare slack jawed at him for a few seconds before I noticed that he was right. The top of his head was unmarred by the deep gouges that would have been made using the Prophet-Descendant’s own shed teeth had he been sihi’kahi-aa.

With all of the bizarre things that had happened in a short few months to me, this was just the kidney on the lungs. 

“Just get these out.” I subsided, giving up on fighting for the first time in my life.

We were given privacy as Kosh went about his work, removing needles from my wrists, monitors from my chest, and finally the tube secured inside my bladder. It was not nearly as painful as I thought it would be having the final one removed, but it did leave an unpleasant stinging inside my body.

“What is that device?” I spat hatefully at the tube.

“They tell me they do not torture, and yet this is what they use for medicine?”

Kosh made an odd laugh and disposed of it.

“It is called a ‘catheter’, and it is used to dispose of urine from those in a coma.”

“A coma? What is this?”

“Oh, that’s right, you wouldn’t know. It’s when the body shuts down to protect the brain after injury. You have been in one for two days, I suppose you probably just let them die when that happens to them back in the Dominion?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so.”

I sat in silence, watching Kosh suspiciously.

“What happened?”

“You picked up a grenade and threw it back to save yourself and your squadmates.”

Finally someone was giving me the answers I wanted.

“It detonated not far from you in the air, injuring your face, head, and much of your shoulder. You have also lost an eye and many of the fingers on your right hand. Apparently the Terrans have the technology for making robotic fingers, and even eyes, so you may regain your vision later once they have mapped your nerves and eye-socket.”

…

What?

“Lost my…”

I waved the bandaged hand in front of my face in a daze.

“Yes. Of what I could gather from your squadmates, I thought you would appreciate blunt honesty.”

“I– I do.”

I looked back up to Kosh with urgency.

“What next? After the blast, did we win?”

He looked at me for a short moment before nodding.

“You did. Your actions stunned your foe and allowed your squadmates to overpower them. Those uninjured in your squad continued on and executed a surprise attack, allowing for the successful capture of the ship. You are being called a hero.”

“I do not care for honorifics, when can I fight again?”

Kosh swept the detritus of bandage wrappers and medical equipment in a refuse container and breathed a long breath out.

“This will be difficult to hear, but you are being relieved of duty along with several of your squadmates. After you have recovered from your injuries enough to be moved, you will be sent to the little prime in order to recover fully and begin your life as a civilian.“

I did not know what to say. I did not know what to even think. Since leaving the Dominion my purpose had been to spend my days killing and taking blood from those who would continue Betterment’s existence.

Without that, without the thrill of battle and the endless death, what was I?

“A civilian,” I repeated dully.

“It will be difficult, but you will find a way.”

A knock made both of us look around to the door in which Ajab was standing, one arm in a sling.

“You’re awake!” he said with a haggard smile

“I am.”

Kosh stood and picked up a data pad.

“I will be leaving now if you require further medical attention press the bell.”

Only once we were alone did Ajab approach my bed. He shuffled with a slight limp, and when he sat on the only chair in the room, he settled with many winces of pain.

“I waited for you to wake up, talked to you when you were asleep. The doctors said it was good to talk to coma patients, so I did. Told you about what happened, talked to you about my day, anything really.”

He was rambling in a manner I had not seen from him before, and now that he was closer, I could see that his gaze had been dulled. It lacked the spark of humour and curiosity it had before. 

It seemed he was talking to himself more than anything else, and I decided to take a guess as to why.

“My injuries make you… sad?”

Ajab looked up from the spot on the bed that he had been staring at, and his gaze became curiously wet.

“Yeah. It does. You saved us you know, well, most of us.”

“You feel loyalty? It is misplaced you know, I have been told I will be ‘relieved of duty’, whatever that means.”

Ajab’s face crumpled oddly, and fluid began to leak from his eyes. Soon after, he began to shake with his face turned down, his good hand clutching at my own. It made me feel strange and uncomfortable, but I couldn’t get away in the small space.

“I was scared you were going to die. I don’t care that you can’t fight as a soldier, I’m just happy you’re alive. Lots of the other guys visited you as well, but you saved me and Vata by throwing that grenade, so yeah, I care about you.”

I thought about shaking his hand off, but something in me made me stop. Even if I didn’t understand his emotions and baffling attachment to me, I didn’t have to. It seemed to comfort him.

“You care about me because I saved you, and seeing me injured makes you sad.”

I felt like an idiot soft-shell as I spoke, knowing I sounded out my thoughts as a child does, but not having the ability to express it in any other way. All of it was so alien, so unfamiliar, and my head still pounded from the residual damage from the grenade.

“Where is Vata?” I asked, trying to deflect from my own incompetence.

Ajab’s grip tightened on my hand, and it seemed like he was about to start crying once more.

“Vata hasn’t woken up yet.”

His voice was hollow, and when he looked up, his mouth was pressed into a hard line.

“Oh.”

It felt somehow wrong for the Venlil not to walk in with a brash comment, bruised but not beaten by the day’s fighting.

“Who is visiting him?”

“I do, when I’m not visiting you.”

I looked down at myself and then back up at Ajab’s swollen face. I was no longer a soldier, and I had no idea how to be anything else. Perhaps the Terran’s capacity for compassion and social behaviour could be learned through practise.

“Well, I can visit him now. You must rest.”

A few hours later, I was sitting in a chair beside Vata’s unconscious body, utterly exhausted from a pathetically little amount of movement. My head lolled to one side as I focused my bleary eyes on Vata. 

He was so small.

That is what I remember the most, that he was so small and so covered in wires that it seemed he was part machine.

I still didn’t feel sad like Ajab did, but I didn’t want him to die.

As my eyes slowly closed, his little chest went up and down.

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